Michelle Kwan
| Instrument | Zheng |
| DOB | August 5th |
| City of birth | Vancouver, B.C. |
| Favorite music genre | R&B, Pop |
| Favorite things to do in Vancouver | I love to go out to eat |
| Future Goals | Travel the world and perform with Pentatonics! |
| What you do to calm down your nerves before a performance | I get nervous so easily. Usually I jump up and down and stretch to loosen up my body. If I’m super nervous, I would eat a banana as well. |
| Hobbies | Read a novel on a nice sunny day on my porch or at the beach, meet new people, play video games with friends and do newspaper crossword puzzles |
| Favorite Restaurant | Boathouse |
| One word to describe yourself | Passionate |
Michelle is one of Vancouver’s finest and established Guzheng players. She has extensive experience in performing as she has graced many stages across the Lower Mainland. Having a Royal Conservatory of Music Piano Diploma, Central Conservatory of China GuZheng Diploma and a cello player of B.C. Chinese Orchestra, she is known for her versatility in music abilities because of her strong background in both western and Chinese music which contributes to Pentatonic’s music playing.
Michelle was born and grew up in Vancouver, B.C. and started learning Guzheng at the age of 11. However 5 years later she discontinued learning the instrument due to a lack of interest and focused on playing piano instead. After many years of leaving the Guzheng untouched, she missed the GuZheng and decided to dedicate herself to learn the instrument again under the Guzheng virtuoso, Chen Wen Ying.
Michelle’s Guzheng skills escalated which lead her to achieve the highest Central Conservatory of China Grade 9 and 10 exam mark in Canada and has consistently won 1st Kiwanis Music Festival from 2007-2010. In 2009, she was awarded as the overall Guzheng champion and in 2010 Michelle became the overall champion in the entire Chinese Ethnic instrument division and went on to compete against western instruments in the Vancouver Kiwanis Gala Showcase. Michelle won 1st place at the Gala Showcase and became the first Guzheng player to make it into the finals and take 1st place.
Being one of the rare Canadian born Chinese instrumentalist, Michelle hopes to promote and inspire other Canadian born youths to play Chinese instruments. Currently Michelle is striving to become a superstar and continues her dream in making Pentatonics a world-class Chinese instrumental band.
