Guo Yue (musician)

Guo Yue (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: 郭躍; pinyin: Guō Yuè; born 1958) is a virtuoso of the dizi (Chinese bamboo flute) and bawu (Chinese free reed pipe). He was born in Beijing, China and as a young boy experienced the Cultural Revolution. In 1982 Yue left China and, with the help of his third sister Yan who was living in England, he studied the silver flute at the Guildhall School of Music. He plays many kinds of the bamboo flute and currently lives in London, recording for Peter Gabriel's Real World label. His other great love is cooking, and he often combines cookery with flute playing at his concerts.

Yue was born in Beijing, China, the youngest of 6 children, in 1958, the year of Mao's Great Leap Forward. His family lived in a traditional courtyard in the maze of old alleys known as the Hutongs, between the beautiful Drum and Bell Towers and the river where he played as a child. His courtyard housed the families of five traditional musicians, mostly from the countryside. From these musicians who (unlike his father) had received no formal musical training, he learned how to put not just his breath but his whole body into playing the flute.

Since relocating to England, Yue has composed, arranged, performed and recorded traditional Chinese music. In 1990 with his brother Guo Yi (郭艺), who plays the sheng (a bamboo mouth organ), they made a Real World album called 'Yuan', which also features the voice of his second sister Xuan. As the Guo Brothers, they performed at international festivals and concerts, including WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) Festivals worldwide. Since 1990 Yue worked as a soloist, writing his own music, and from 2003 he has worked in "Shan Qi" with Giovanni Amighetti, Helge A. Norbakken, Guido Ponzini, Wu Fei, and Gjermund Silset.

...
Wikipedia