Composers: Angela Jui Lee

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Angela Jui Lee, gu-zheng master, was born in China, in the city of Xian. Her family lived in Taiwan for many years, and from there she emigrated to the United States in 1971.
    She studied music as an apprentice to master gu-zheng artists Wei De-Liang and Li Ying.
    Angela performs in a variety of venues. In addition to solo recitals in concert halls, she has performed in museums and art exhibitions, presented workshops in universities, schools, and participated in special cultural events. Angela is helping to bridge the gap between traditional Chinese music and modern European-American culture by bringing the ancient gu-zheng into the musical mainstream of the 21st century.
    The 1996 Olympic Committee selected Angela to perform at the International Village and Centennial Club during the Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
    Angela's 1998 CD, titled Heart's Strings in loving memory of her son, Andrew (1963-1988), is a compilation of ten of her arrangements of traditional Chinese tunes. Following on its success, her most recent CD, The Moon Is High, was released in 2001 on the T'ang Dragon label. Where the earlier CD is largely meditative and introspective, The Moon Is High is a more exuberant and outwardly expressive endeavor, featuring Angela's 23-string and 25-string gu-zhengs, two of four gu-zhengs which have been made especially for her. Utilizing these instruments and her own highly personalized arrangements, Ms. Lee explores an unprecedented expressive power beyond the confines of performances found in more traditional recordings.
    Angela has also co-authored English-language gu-zheng method books with American composer Mark Gresham, An Introduction to the Gu-Zheng, Vol. One and An Introduction to the Gu-Zheng, Vol. Two, which were published in 2002 by Lux Nova Press.