Guzheng Seminar and Concert

Ms. Meng Cao of The Chinese Traditional Music Foundation will host a seminar to introduce the various schools and styles of the traditional Chinese instrument guzheng (zither) and follow with a performance. This event is open to all faculty and students at UNC and the local community.

Ms. Meng Cao is a guzheng musician from China. She received her master degree from Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2007. She serves as art director of a Shanghai traditional music society.

Cao began her guzheng lessons in 1990 with Tinggui Han and Shuping Zhao, two great masters of the Shandong School of the guzheng tradition. In college, she also studied with masters of guzheng music in both modern and traditional styles.

In graduate school, Cao studied the musical form of Chinese traditional music and how guzheng music has developed as a component of traditional Chinese opera. Her master’s thesis, “The Development of Qupai Music,” won the prize given by the Music Research Institute at Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Her paper on “Danzhou Folk Song” also won a prize given by Hainan Social Science Academy.

After graduation, she worked at the International Communication College of Shanghai University and the Shanghai Film and Art Academy. Since 2012, she has worked for NGOs and has been directing several organizations.

The Chinese Traditional Music Foundation is active in the Triangle area to introduce Chinese music to the students and citizens of North Carolina.