“Who is Beiliang?” A question often asked by the person herself. She is a cellist, who plays a lot of baroque cello and sometimes the viola da gamba. From time to time she disguises as an ethnomusicologist exploring the connection between performers and the music they choose to play and the ways in which they choose to play that music. How is it that two people can receive the same information, historical or technical, and choose to let it influence their playing in drastically different ways? What makes each person a unique entity? Most of the time, Beiliang is just fascinated by the world.
Beiliang has earned degrees including a Doctor of Musical Arts, but what that really means is that “Dr. Zhu” is extremely interested in learning, hardly ever the most diligent student but always very curious. She has won competitions and awards such as First Prize and the Audience Award at the XVIII International Bach Competition in Leipzig, but what that really means is that Beiliang was so in love with Bach’s music and baroque music in a general sense that she did not care whether she was perfect in her technique or correct in her interpretation but only about the fact that she was given a chance to connect with people through music that let her speak from her heart and she was not going to waste it through self-doubt. She experiences stories as the music happens; every phrase could be an emotional reaction; a life’s journey could be reflected in a five-minute prelude. Beiliang is a story addict. If you would like to share yours with her, feel free to visit www.beiliangzhu.com.