Fang Gao, Violin
Fang Gao is an active performer on both Baroque and Modern Violins. She has performed as a soloist with her husband, organist Dr. Weicheng Zhao throughout the United States, and has been featured as an ensemble member in the Corona del Mar Baroque Music Festival and the Berkeley and San Francisco Early Music Festivals. She plays a Baroque violin made in London in 1779 by John Crowther for the shop of John Kennedy.
Born in Tianjin China, Ms. Gao started her violin studies at the age of four. She received the Bachelor of Music Degree and the Master of Music Degree in Violin Performance from Tianjin Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Zili Liu and Jixu Chen. Among numerous scholarships, she received the National Encouragement Scholarship, the Special Education Scholarship, and the Entitled Excellent Student Award . She was a member of the Tianjin TEDA Symphony Orchestra for four years.
From 2009 to 2012, Ms. Gao was a faculty member at the Wenning Guan Studio for Strings and Musical Arts, Tianjin Conservatory of Music and the Sunshine School of the Arts, Tianjin where she taught individual instruction in violin, music appreciation classes, and classical aural skills. Her open-course videos were published by People's Daily Online 2012. She received the 2011 Outstanding Instructor Prize for her students’ achievements in the 2011 Tianjin Violin Competition.
Ms. Gao came to the United States with her husband in 2012. In October, 2014 Ms. Gao received a “Unanimous Superior” rating by the California Association of Professional Music Teachers Concerto and Solo String Division Competition. She received a Graduate Certificate from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music in 2016, where she was awarded a Colburn Foundation Scholarship to study Baroque Violin Performance with Susan Feldman. During that time, she performed with the Thornton Baroque Sinfonia and the Collegium Workshop Ensemble (where she played vielle). Her baroque violin studies also include lessons with Elizabeth Blumenstock, David Wilson; she studied modern violin with Suli Xue and Lynn Blakeslee. Her television interviews have been featured on LA 18 and Fairchild TV (Canada).
Ms. Gao is a member of California Association of Professional Music Teachers. She teaches violin at the Musikhaus Music Academy and privately, and continues to perform concerts on both historical and modern violins.