Dr. Gloria Wong

Biography

Gloria Wong is a sessional lecturer and director of the Chinese Music Ensemble at the University of British Columbia. As an ethnomusicologist and a specialist in Chinese music, she has dedicated her career to promoting Chinese instrumental music in Vancouver. Wong has served in various capacities including teacher, scholar, conductor, and administrator. From 2012 to 2020, she was the Artistic Director for the British Columbia Youth Chinese Orchestra and played a significant role in founding the Chinese Music Program at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music in 2016. She has also held the position of World Music Department Head at the VSO School of Music, where she has worked to enhance the program offerings in world music from 2017 to 2019. Wong is recognized as a passionate pedagogue in intercultural music, having served as the Principal for the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra Summer Academy in 2019. Her dissertation research focused on shan’ge, which are courtship dialogue songs of the Hani minority in Yunnan, Southwest China. Her publications include the monograph titled 'Yueqi: Chinese Musical Instruments Performance' published by the British Columbia Chinese Music Association in 2011 and contributions to the Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments in 2014. Her current research interests center on contemporary compositions for Chinese chamber ensembles.

Research Interests