Friends
Kenny Kwan
Kenny Kwan is Chinese Canadian pianist, percussionist, composer, and ethnomusicologist interested in contemporary improvisation and Chinese instrumental music. His work charts a path of Chinese instrumental music in the diaspora community as one centered on intercultural music-making, fostering local communities, and public education. His goal is to curate an environment that would cultivate and nurture a new generation of overseas Chinese instrumental music. Musically, Kenny is interested in exploring the concept of silence—both naturally occurring and intentionally created silence—and its fluctuations in relation to listener expectations.
Kenny holds M.A. in Ethnomusicology from York University and a B.M. from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Sophy Li
Sophy began learning the Erhu at age 13 after being introduced to Chinese traditional music by her father. Since then, she has performed at various performance venues, schools and senior homes across Canada, sharing the expressive sound of this traditional instrument with diverse audiences. She has been an active member of several Chinese orchestras in Calgary, Waterloo, and Toronto, performing both the Erhu and Zhonghu. Sophy is a student of Lemon Wang and Gavin Zhang.
Sophy holds a Bachelors of Engineering from the University of Waterloo and Masters of Engineering from the University of Toronto.
Mike Liu
Mike (Zhuo Chong) Liu is a Toronto-based musician with a broad artistic practice that includes conducting, arranging, chamber music, and performing on both Western and Chinese instruments.
Mike began playing the sheng in 2022 when he was handed an alto sheng and invited to perform with the Toronto Chinese Orchestra. To his surprise, the instrument was engraved with the name of his hometown, Tianjin, China. A bit of investigation revealed the maker to be a close family friend! This connection led to a factory visit, the purchase of his own instruments, and a deepening dedication to mastering the instrument.
He currently performs with Spark Ensemble and has been a featured soloist with the Toronto Chinese Orchestra, and has performed with Chinese orchestras from Edmonton and Taiwan. His instruments of choice are the 37 reed traditional sheng and the 42 reed chromatic sheng. He is a student of ZhongXi Wu.
Mike holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Toronto and a Master of Teaching from OISE. His next goal is to master the baby sheng.
Tracy Chan
Tracy Sze-Wing Chan specializes in the ruan, a versatile yet delicate Chinese plucked-string instrument. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she developed a passion for Chinese music during her secondary school years. She received training from the Hong Kong Music Office and was a member of both the Hong Kong Youth Chinese Plucked String Orchestra and the Hong Kong Youth Chinese Orchestra, performing at various local and international events.
After emigrating to Canada in 2018, Tracy joined the Toronto Chinese Orchestra (TCO), where she remained an active member until 2024. In addition to her performances with TCO, she participated in the ME & Lau Family Foundation's String Music Art Exhibition since in 2022 and was featured at SAO’s 8th Annual Season Finale Concert in 2022, as well as at the Canadian Chinese Orchestra's "Home Away From Home" concert in 2023.
SPARK Ensemble
Spark is an ensemble of Chinese instrumentalists from across the Greater Toronto Area with a mission of challenging boundaries and exploring possibilities with music for Chinese instruments. Its core group comprises Gavin Zhang, an erhuist trained in Beijing and Vancouver; Matthew Poon, a conductor and music professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; Mike Liu, a sheng player, tubist, and secondary school music teacher for the Toronto District School Board; and Tracy Chan, a ruan specialist trained by the Hong Kong Music Office. Projects have seen Spark perform in Toronto and Edmonton, while future plans are in the works for tours elsewhere in Canada, across the United States and in Singapore.