Sun Yongzhi ○

Principal Dizi of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Sun Yongzhi graduated from the Xi’an Conservatory of Music in 1982 and joined the faculty. He was later appointed Head of its Teaching Resources Centre for Wind Music under the Department of Ethnic Instrumental Music. He joined the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in 1997 as a Dizi Principal. He is also a dizi instructor and supervisor on the postgraduate programme at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, a dizi instructor at the Hong Kong Baptist University, a visiting dizi instructor at the Malaysian Institute of Art, and Visiting Professor and supervisor on the Master’s degree programme of the Xi’an Conservatory of Music. He is the Vice President of the Bamboo Flute Society under the auspices of the Chinese Musicians’ Association. 

Sun trained under Yuan Xiuhe and was also a formal disciple of Maestro Zhao Songting of dizi fame. He has done meticulous research on the art of dizi, and is therefore able to integrate the outstanding features of many stylistic schools. He has performed a variety of dizi classics in recent years, such as the symphony Monk Jianzhen Sailing Eastward by Zhao Jiping; the modern music Windy Days and Song of Wind-scape by Chan Ming-chi; dizi concertos Four Movements: Northern Shaanxi by Cheng Dazhao, Facets of Sichuan by Zhong Mingxin, Wilderness by Yang Qing, The Legend of the White Snake by Law Wai-lun and Cheng Jih-min, A Wife’s Lament of Her Husband Far Away co-written by Sun and Zhou Yuguo; and the dizi and zheng double concerto, The Peony Pavilion by Gu Guanren. All of them demonstrate his technical virtuosity as well as his pursuit for artistic excellence. 

Sun is an active performer on the concert stage as well as in the recording studio. He has been on many overseas tours as a member of the China Youth Arts Troupe, the Shaanxi Cultural Exchange Delegation, the Xi’an Musicians’ Ensemble and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra for cultural exchange, covering dozens of countries in the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and Japan. His publications include the articles on The Northern and Southern Styles of the Dizi and On the Intonation of the Dizi, as well as a full set of graded teaching materials for dizi examinations (Vol.1-8).  He has recorded for films and television, with titles such as The True Hearted, Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker and The Conquerors.