2023
About the Program
Exciting, playful, dazzling, and at times, serene, this cultural concert features the sounds of acoustic guitar, vocals, Chinese erhu, and Korean gayageum.
Singer-songwriter Ginalina, born and raised in Canada, with roots in Taiwan, writes warm folk and winsome family folk music themed in our connections to nature and each other. Recently, she released an album of adapted Eastern traditional songs to explore and celebrate her Asian roots, which was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award. Roa Lee learned the gayageum in South Korea from a young age and ventured to Toronto to break through the barrier between traditional and contemporary music. Amely Zhou on the other hand, was exposed to traditional instruments in China and then came to Toronto where she studied these more deeply. A musician, composer, conductor, and music educator, she is dedicated to introducing more audiences to the timeless sounds of the guzheng and erhu.
Their joint performance is inspired by the theme of Belonging. They invite the audience to experience the emotions with them through their collaborative concert of traditional, modern, and original songs and tunes.
Ginalina is three-time Juno-nominated singer-songwriter, musician, and multidisciplinary artist with a focus in folk and family folk music. Her music and children’s books are inspired by nature, community, culture, and the connections we share between them. In 2021, her music was shortlisted for the National CBC Music in the Classroom Contest alongside 24 other artists including Shania Twain, Shawn Mendes, Nelly Furtado, and Arkells. In 2022, she released her debut fusion folk project titled, Going Back: Remembered and Remixed Family Folk Songs inspired by traditional songs from China and Taiwan, featuring guitar, guzheng, erhu, banjo, and other instruments. These songs were showcased at the debut Jade Music Festival in Vancouver, the historic Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver, the Vancouver Chinese Classical Garden, and as part of the 2023 Canadian Folk Music Awards. Ginalina has performed at Folk Music Festivals in Asia and across Canada including Mariposa (ON), Folk on the Rocks (NWT), Dawson City (YK), as well as numerous international children’s festivals in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and more.
Roa (HyunYoung) Lee is a composer, arranger and gayageum musician from Korea. She began playing when she was 7 years old and received formal training in high school and university for traditional performing arts. Her interest in collaboration and incorporating the gayageum with various music genres led her to study in Toronto, where, as a fearless musical challenger, she creates music rooted in traditional Korean ideas while integrating elements from a variety of other genres. A member of the Labyrinth Ensemble and a teacher, she’s performed with and at Small World Music, the Aga Khan Museum, Harbourfront Centre, the Four Seasons Centre, the Korean Traditional Music Association of Canada, the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Toronto, several municipal orchestras, and more.
Amely Zhou is an erhu performer, a Chinese music specialist, an adjudicator and a conductor. In 2014, Amely graduated from York University with a Specialized Honours B.A. in music. Amely’s music has been featured on TVO, Fairchild TV and CNTV. Amely is currently the music director of the Canadian Chinese Orchestra. Under the baton of Amely Zhou, the orchestra has toured in China and performed at the Markham Theatre, the Sony Centre, and the Mississauga Living Art Centre. In 2020, Zhou led a group of multi-ethnic ensemble Estro-genesis and performed a series of Canadian works for the Toronto Music Garden’s summer music program. Through an invitation from the Small World Music Society, Amely Zhou directed the Borderless Music project and produced a music documentary. Amely Zhou’s diverse talents and dedication to promoting Chinese music and cultural exchange have made her a prominent figure in the Canadian music scene, leaving a lasting impact through her performances, leadership, and collaborations.
From the Curating Team
Indigenous communities in Canada and Taiwan are reclaiming their heritage, blending traditional and contemporary art into a refreshing take on the journey of self-identity. This performance series showcases the beauty of cultural convergence, featuring Chinese orchestral music, Indigenous songs, and electronic music.
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TAIWANfest Toronto is grateful to be held on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, that is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We acknowledge our privilege to be gathered here, and commit to work with and be respectful to the Indigenous peoples of this land while we engage in meaningful conversations of culture and reconciliation.