The plucked strings. This section comprises of many different instruments and gives the Chinese orchestra an added texture and colour that is different from the western orchestra.

Introducing this section is Lina Cao. She is the first guzheng musician member of the Toronto Musicians Association (TMA149), a member of the Guzheng Society of the Chinese Musicians Association, and the Toronto Chinese Orchestra. Lina was taught by Professor Wang Wei who is a Guzheng player and educator at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She received a master’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2016.

Lina has held guzheng solo concerts and chamber music concerts in many cities in China, and has visited many Asian and European countries for artistic exchanges. Lina was invited to attend Sino-Japanese Friendship Concert and was awarded an international gratitude certificate for “The Cause of World Peace” in 2011. In 2015, Lina’s highly acclaimed performance of the “Qinhuai Capriccio” Concerto with the Jiangsu Nationalities Orchestra was recorded by the WFMT Radio (Chicago). The Moyu Guzheng Group, led by Lina, is the first guzheng philharmonic society that won the two most prestigious awards of China: “The Golden Bell Awards” and the Chinese Ministry of Culture’s “Wenhua Award”.

After moving to Canada, Lina Cao was invited to premiere many works and an opera ,”The Monkiest King”. Most notably, she has collaborated with the Chinese Radio and Film Symphony Orchestra, the Music Department of the University of Toronto, the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, and the Toronto Chinese Orchestra. Lina Cao is a young guzheng player who is active on the Canadian music stage.