However, the Internet has made Chinese music more accessible to Westerners, Portnow said during an interview with Chinese media in August 2008, when he came to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. Online media services such as iTunes make it much easier for Chinese musicians to sell their music to an American audience, which is "a big change that Chinese musicians and music companies should pay attention to," he said.

Portnow also reminded Chinese musicians of the need to find a balance between learning techniques from foreign peers and drawing inspiration from their own traditions.

Gloria Cheng

Pianist Gloria Cheng is widely recognized as a colorful and communicative interpreter of contemporary music, garnering universal acclaim for her unassuming virtuosity and eloquence. Cheng's dedication to contemporary music has brought her into close collaborations with many of the leading composers of our time: Thomas Adès, Henry Brant, Earle Brown, Elliott Carter, Witold Lutoslawski, Steve Rich and Steven Stucky, among others.

As the 1992 winner of the League of Composers/ISCM performer competition, Cheng was sponsored in a highly acclaimed solo debut recital at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.

Prior to post-graduate studies in Paris and Barcelona, Cheng earned her B.A. in Economics from Stanford University, and graduate degrees in Music from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California. Her primary teachers were Isabelle Sant'Ambrogio, Aube Tzerko, and John Perry. She is on the faculty at UCLA.

Source: Concord Music Group