The Ontario Cross-Cultural Music Society Symphony Orchestra and The Canadian Chinese Orchestra are getting together for a concert that celebrates contemporary creation and artistic collaboration as paths towards the future of Chinese music.
Dr. Matthew Poon is the CCO Artistic Advisor and Conductor, and James Wu is the OCMS Symphony Orchestra Music Director. Reimagination: The Tradition of Innovation takes place June 27, 2026.
Performers: Soloists
Amely Zhou (Erhu soloist)
Amely Zhou is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Canadian Chinese Orchestra. She is a dedicated and versatile musician, conductor and adjudicator specializing in erhu and guzheng performance.
Amely earned a Specialized Honours B.A. in Music, and an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from York University. She has studied conducting with Lisette Canton and Mark Chambers, along with participating in conducting programs such as the University of Toronto Wind Conducting Symposium, UBC Wind Conducting Symposium in 2017, and Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Conducting Masterclass.
She previously served as the conductor of the Toronto Chinese Youth Orchestra, and as the Music Director of the Ontario Multicultural Music Association’s Mix Instruments Youth Orchestra, and has been the co-conductor of the NextGen Youth Orchestra at the Laurier Academy of Arts and Music since 2024-2025. She has led the Canadian Chinese Orchestra (CCO) since 2017, performing locally at venues such as the Markham Theatre, Sony Centre, and Mississauga Living Arts Centre, as well as on tour in China.
As a musician, she has performed with the Canadian Sinfonietta, and has premiered many new works that have been composed for her. She has contributed to more than 20 albums.
Hong Da Chin (Dizi soloist)
Hong-Da Chin is originally from Kajang, Malaysia, and his artistic practice explores multiculturalism and diversity in various ways, incorporating elements of Malay, Chinese, and Indian cultures.
He began his musical career as a Chinese flutist in high school, and was invited to perform with gamelan and traditional Indian ensembles. His music has been performed widely in North America, Europe, Israel, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, and Singapore by ensembles such as the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Orkiestra Muzyki Nowej (Poland), Bowling Green Philharmonia, BelCanto Trio, Karr and Mattingly Duo, Altered Sound Duo, Vive Ensemble, Ogni Suono, Patchwork, and Orlando Cela.
As a musician, he performs on both the Western and Chinese flute, specializing in contemporary music. As a Chinese flutist, he has performed at Carnegie Hall (NYC), Alice Tully Hall (NYC), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington D.C.), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Asia Society (NYC), the Phillips Collection (Washington D.C.), the Huntington Library (LA), the Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C.), Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park (Chicago), the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Silesian Theatre (Katowice, Poland). Chin earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from Bowling Green State University.
Andrew Hsu (Violin soloist)
Andrew Hsu is the Concertmaster of OCMS Symphony Orchestra. He was born and grew up in Hong Kong, and moved to North America to study at the School of Music of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. After graduation, Andrew joined Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he continued his education with mentorship from various musicians and conductors.
Andrew returned to Hong Kong to teach violin in both primary and secondary schools, along with performing with the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Strings, and the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong. He later relocated to Canada, where he has established a busy teaching practice, along with performing as the concertmaster of both the Milton Philharmonic Orchestra and the OCMS Symphony Orchestra.
The Program
During the first half, each orchestra will showcase their own talents and style. The second half features a combined orchestra of more than 100 musicians on stage, performing the premiere of a new double concerto arrangement for the famous Butterfly Concerto, arranged for erhu and violin soloists, accompanied by both orchestras. OCMS’ concertmaster, Andrew Hsu, and CCO’s artistic director, Amely Zhou, will embody the ill-fated lovers in this ancient tale as they perform as soloists.
The concert closes with an overture from Black Wukong, one of the most popular video games in recent years.
The full program includes:
- Josef Strauss (1827-1870): Jockey Polka (op.278) — in a nod to the Chinese Year of the Horse.
- Yuankai Bao 鲍元恺 (b. 1944): Chinese Sights and Sounds 炎黄风情 — selections: Happy Sunrise 太阳出来喜洋洋, Yellow Poplar Shouldering Pole ⻩杨扁担, Dialogue of Flowers 对花 — a popular Chinese orchestral piece composed in a Western symphonic format. Each of the 24 pieces making up the suite draw from specific traditional folk songs.
- Wang Chen Wei 王辰威: Sky《天》— the work incorporates a poem written by the composer that uses the sky as a metaphor for both the difficulties and wonders of life.
- 程大兆: 闹红火 from Shaanbei Sketches IV (soloist：Hong-Da Chin, dizi) — the fourth movement of a series of four sketches depicting life in Shaanxi/ “NaoHongHuo (闹红火),” means “Vibrant Celebration,” in the local dialect.
- 何占豪 陈钢: Butterfly Lovers Concerto 梁山伯与祝英台小提琴二胡双重协奏, adapted by 何占豪He Zhanhao (soloists: Amely Zhou, erhu & Andrew Hsu, violin). The iconic Butterfly Lovers Concerto was composed n 1959 by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang. It combines Western symphonic forms and Chinese melodies, and has become one of the most recognized pieces in Chinese classical music. It draws from an ancient Chinese legend, the story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai—often referred to as China’s “Romeo and Juliet”.
- Xu Jingqing (b. 1942) 许镜清: Wukong 西游记序曲 《云宫迅音》Journey to the West is based on one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, a foundational work that has shaped East Asian folklore with its blend of mythology, Buddhist and Daoist philosophy. The music brings together traditional Chinese music, classical Chinese instruments such as pipa, guzheng, and traditional percussion, with Western brass, synthesizers, and the electric guitar.
- Encore: Csárdás by Vittorio Monti, arranged by Matthew Poon
The Concert
Reimagination: The Tradition of Innovation takes place June 27, 20266 at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto.
Find show details and tickets [HERE].
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