Firebird Youth Chinese Orchestra
Encyclopedia
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. It is an orchestra composed of traditional Chinese instruments.
History
FYCO was founded in 2000 by Gordon Lee along with thirteen musicians. FYCO currently has three groups, beginning, junior, and senior, with about one hundred musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments. Most of them are American born Chinese youths ranging from nine to seventeen years of age.In the past few years, FYCO's concerts have received praises from audiences, including arts organization observers. Arts Council Silicon Valley
Arts Council Silicon Valley
The Arts Council Silicon Valley is the official Santa Clara County, USA arts council.Established in 1982, Arts Council Silicon Valley is a private, nonprofit arts organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for Santa Clara County residents by creating and fostering arts and culture...
describes FYCO as a "local treasure." The National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
(NEA) declared FYCO as "one of the very few ensembles in the United States dedicated to educating young people, their families and communities through traditional Chinese music, and is carrying out its mission with great success."
Goals
FYCO's mission is to promote Chinese music as an integral part of Chinese-American culture by training young musicians to play traditional instruments, thereby strengthening the Chinese community and enhancing the cultural diversity and richness of American society. FYCO has been awarded grants by government arts agencies and foundations, and been featured on newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, including CCTVChina Central Television
China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
(China Central Television), Hong Kong Phoenix TV
Phoenix Television
Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Ltd or Phoenix Television is a Hong Kong-based Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese television broadcaster that serves the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong along with other markets with substantial Chinese viewers...
, KTSF
KTSF
KTSF is an independent television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Although licensed to San Francisco, the station's studio building is located in south suburban Brisbane, California. It is owned by Lincoln Broadcasting Company, and broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a...
(CH26), KICU (CH36), and KQED-TV (CH9).
In 2004, FYCO was invited by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
to visit three of China's top conservatories of music, and they performed joint concerts with each of the conservatories. FYCO is the first Chinese orchestra from Western countries to perform in China.