Meet our teachers
Songyuan He
Founder, Peking opera teacher
Qi Zhang
Peking opera teacher
Yuxiao Chen Music director
Bios
Songyuan He
He comes from a family of Peking Opera performers and graduated from the Beijing Opera Academy. He is currently the youngest performing artist in traditional Chinese opera active in Europe. He is also a pioneering contemporary theatre explorer, cross-disciplinary intercultural artist, theatre choreographer and director. He has held a Beijing Opera workshop at New York University in the USA. He now lives in Sweden and is one of the founding artists of the pioneering Kunqu Experimental Theatre Salon in Stockholm.
Performance Experience
In 2025 has collaborated with performance artist XIE RONG and writer DANIEL YORK LOH in Mountains and Seas – Song of Today in the Omnibus Theatre in London, UK, performing the Peking opera vocal and Chinese folk percussion. In 2025 has performed the contemporary Chinese opera "Covetousness" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2025 has performed vocal music, dance, and Peking Opera with Beibei Wang at the Ura Matsuri Festival at the Southbank Centre in London, UK. In 2025 has performed the audio-visual concert "Guanyin" at Brasenose College, University of Oxford, UK - vocal and dance performances. In 2025 has performed the multimedia interactive Peking Opera "Taking Xingyang" at the invitation of Spotify headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2024 has invited by the Swedish Ministry of Culture Foundation to perform experimental puppetry and Chinese opera in Pajala and Korpilombolo and hold Chinese opera lectures. In 2023 has performed the bilingual Kunqu Opera "Tiger Bag Bullet - Shan Ting" at St. Catherine's College, University of Oxford, UK. In 2023 has performed Kunqu Opera at the United Nations Chinese Language Day in New York, USA. In 2023 has invited by SOAS, University of London, UK, to hold a Peking Opera lecture and workshop. In 2023 has performed the Tangram x Beibei Wang: Five Elements Concert at St. Lucas' Church, London, UK. The British magazine "The Critic" praised his performances for their elegance, seriousness, and humor, bringing the show into a strange and fascinating world. In 2023 has participated in the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra's performance of Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" as a Tang poetry reciter in Germany. In 2022 has performed Peking Opera at the opening day of the China Pavilion at the Dubai World Expo in the United Arab Emirates. In 2021 has performed the contemporary Kunqu opera "The Legend of the White Snake" in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2020 has performed the interactive Peking Opera "The Monkey King Makes Trouble in Heaven" and organized a workshop in Leipzig, Germany.
Qi Zhang
As a professional performer in National Peking opera company since 2015. In 2020, the national third-level performer certificated by the government. From 2015 to present, as an instructor in Peking opera. Experienced at the acting, tutoring, and creating Chinese theater. She received master's degree in Peking Opera performance from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in 2022. She was a visiting lecturer at Binghamton University, State University of New York in the United States and taught Peking Opera performance. She has performed in the United States, Hong Kong, Greece, France, China National Radio (CCTV), and has won several national scholarships and performance awards in China.
Yuxiao Chen
She is one of the most active and sought after Chinese flautist and ocarina performer in Europe. After graduating from the Beijing Opera Academy, Yuxiao taught at Binghamton University, State University of New York and has given many cross-cultural concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Asian Cultural Center in New York. After settling in Sweden, she founded the pioneering Kunqu Theatre Salon in Stockholm and was invited as soloist to perform the world premiere of a new work, the Bamboo Flute Concerto, with the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany in 2023.
Awards
In 2023 won First Prize as a soloist in the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra's Global Intercultural Composition Competition, performing the large-scale modern orchestral work "Concerto for Flute, Xiao and Xun - The Peony Pavilion" by German-based composer Wang Yijie with the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by conductor Constantia Gurzi.
Performances
In 2025 collaborated with performance artist XIE RONG and writer DANIEL YORK LOH in Mountains and Seas – Song of Today in the Omnibus Theatre in London, UK, performing the bamboo flute, xiao, and xun. In 2025 at Live Music Performance of the Contemporary Chinese Opera "Covetousness" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2025 at Xiao Performance of the "Guanyin" Audiovisual Concert at the Brasenose College of the University of Oxford. In 2023 Invited by the Swedish Ministry of Culture to perform and organize Chinese music workshops at the Pajala Summer Cultural Festival. In 2023 premiered Kunqu Opera "Rural April" at the United Nations Chinese Language Day in New York, USA - bamboo flute performance. In 2023 as guest performer at the Humphrey Composition Prize Ceremony at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, UK - bamboo flute performance. In 2023 at LSO St Luke's, London, UK, Tangram x Beibei Wang: Wu Xing Concert - bamboo flute, xiao, and xun performance. In 2022 Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Germany, Gustav Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" - bamboo flute performance, xiao, and xun performance. In 2022 at Opening Ceremony of the China Pavilion at the EXPO2020 Dubai World Expo, UAE- bamboo flute performance. In 2020 in symphony Conducted by Zhang Xian in the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in the Prudential Hall Lobby, USA, performing the symphony "Dream of the Red Chamber" - xun solo performance. In 2019 at Contemporary Kunqu Opera "The Legend of the White Snake" in Stockholm, Sweden - bamboo flute, xiao and xun performance.