Annie Zhou

Annie Zhou is an Artist/Composer/Instructor, whose primary musical instrument is Guzheng, the 21-string traditional Chinese instrument which has over 2,500 years of history. In order to master her art, Annie studied under Guzheng Master/composer Changyuan Wang, Chinese instrumentalist/composer Qichao Liu, American composer/improviser Paul Novros, Vinny Golia, and Michael Jon Fink. Now based in Los Angeles, California, Annie has devoted herself to the promotion and integration of Chinese traditional instruments in the United States, intent on bringing this rich, "new" thousands-year-old sound into the Western music scene. She became not only Vice Chairman of SINO-US Chinese Musician Association but also the founder of the Amare Girls Band, a Los Angeles group that melds Chinese and Western instruments into a unique listening experience. Annie performs extensively, from international to local, always trying to bring this modern-traditional sound to new ears. Among her numerous performances, she was featured at the 61st L.A. County Holiday Celebration, which was broadcast on Music Center, PBS, and KCET. She was invited as the only Guzheng performer at the 17th Chinese-American New Year Festival Gala 2021, the virtual show was viewed by over 100,000 people at the time of the premiere. In the Grand Chinese New Year Concert at February 2020, she played her original music “Lunar New Year Overture", with the Zhonghua Chinese orchestra as accompaniment. In the Spring Festival 2019, Annie Zhou collaborated with Maestro Carl St. Clair and the Pacific Symphony, performed "Chinese Classical" at the New Year Concert. She has worked on numerous occasions with American Accordionist and folk singer Jessica Fichot and her band, and in 2019 recorded the Chinese/French/Cantonese trilogy song "Gongxi A Paris," as well as playing Chinese classical and pop music in their concerts. In 2017, Annie Zhou was invited as a Guzheng soloist to play for her musical peers at the National Association of Music Merchants Exhibition in Anaheim, California. In addition, Annie is making a great effort on her own original Guzheng music, and some of her original songs have been broadcast by local music stations in the United States. In 2018, her "Spring Sprouts/Meng" won the "Best Modern Mode Song" Award at the Sheng Shi Hua Zheng International Guzheng Music Festival. In the same year, she was invited to judge the "Yingcai Cup" Guzheng Competition. Moreover, her original work “Unsettled” has been selected as a semi-finalist in the “International Songwriting Competition” of February 2021.