I was deeply inspired every time I saw the CASTYO conductor and volunteers serve the orchestra with such dedication.
— Daniel Jiang, Cello

Flute Teachers

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Flute Teachers 🎵

Xuanxuan Fei

Specialty: Flute, Chamber Coaching

Language(s): English, Mandarin

Email: xuanxuan8564@gmail.com

In 1997, she gained admission to the Orchestral Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with the highest entrance examination score in the woodwind category. She studied under Professor He Shengqi.

During her studies, she was awarded the First-Class Scholarship for three consecutive years due to her outstanding academic performance. As a result, she served as the Principal Flute of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music Youth Symphony Orchestra and had the honor of performing Dvořák's Ninth Symphony ("From the New World") and Cello Concerto under conductors Seiji Ozawa and Mstislav Rostropovich. Beginning in her junior year, she performed with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra as Principal Flute and participated in numerous recording sessions.

In 2001, she joined the Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra as Principal Flute. In 2004, she performed Carl Reinecke's Flute Concerto in D Major with the Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mr. Zhang Guoyong. That same year, she participated in the Guangzhou International Music Summer Camp's hundred-member orchestra, conducted by Charles Dutoit, serving as Principal Flute for a performance of Brahms' Second Symphony. Throughout her tenure, she performed extensively in opera productions, accumulating a vast repertoire. This included nearly all of Puccini's operas, with notable familiarity in Madama Butterfly and Tosca. She performed Turandot at the Guangzhou Opera House and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing under Lorin Maazel. She also performed La bohème, Cavalleria rusticana, and in Beijing's Zhongshan Park Music Hall, performed Puccini's trio of one-act operas: Il tabarro, Gianni Schicchi, and Suor Angelica. Puccini's first opera, Le Villi, received its Chinese premiere in 2009. In 2008, she participated in the Dalhalla Opera Festival in Sweden, performing Verdi's Otello, the classic Chinese symphonic cantata The Yellow River, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Other frequently performed Verdi operas included Rigoletto, La traviata, Aida, and La forza del destino. Beyond classical repertoire, she performed the original opera Le Pari (Betting Life) by renowned Chinese-French composer Wen Deqing at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland and Guo Wenjing's opera Poet Li Bai during the Year of Chinese Culture in Italy.

Over the years, her symphonic performances encompassed a wide range of works by composers including Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, and Shostakovich. Chamber music activities, particularly woodwind quintet performances, were also frequent. In June 2023, she organized and performed in the highly acclaimed "Music Afternoon Tea" flute ensemble concert at the Shanghai Concert Hall. In 2019, she undertook a 39-day US tour with the orchestra, performing 22 concerts across major venues in 22 cities spanning 14 states in the Eastern and Central US. The tour featured 4 programs covering 12 Chinese and international masterpieces, including Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World"), Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, as well as familiar Chinese works like The Butterfly Lovers violin concerto and the Yellow River piano concerto, plus numerous overtures, showcasing diverse styles. This extensive tour was a significant test of the musicians' endurance, professionalism, and performance standards.

Selected as a representative for the Shanghai Municipal Publicity Department's "Talent Exchange Program," she traveled to Kuopio, Finland, for academic exchange. There, she performed Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 4, earning acclaim from the local music community.

Beyond her extensive experience as both a soloist and orchestral musician, she is also an accomplished pedagogue. Her students consistently excel in competitions, graded examinations, and university admissions. One standout student gained admission to the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Nice (France) with distinction, won honors at the Poland International Flute Competition, and, after rigorous selection, secured a teaching position at the Affiliated Middle School of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

In recent years, she has remained active on stage while also contributing to flute education through recording, introducing, and translating pedagogical materials. Her publications include:

  • Flute Pop Rain, Volumes 1 & 3 (providing recorded performance demonstrations).
  • Translated and introduced the US-original textbook Standard of Excellence: Comprehensive Band Method (Books 1 for Flute and French Horn). These books are now widely used as standard teaching materials for wind bands in Chinese primary and secondary schools.