Jindong Cai is director of the US-China Music Institute, professor of music and arts at Bard College, and associate conductor of The Orchestra Now (TŌN). Previously, he was a professor of performance at Stanford University. Born in Beijing, Cai received his early musical training in China, where he learned to play violin and piano. He came to the United States for his graduate studies at the New England Conservatory and the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. Cai started his conducting career with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and has worked with orchestras throughout North America and Asia. He is a three-time recipient of the ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming for Contemporary Music.

Over his 35-year career in the United States, Cai has established himself as an active and dynamic conductor, scholar of Western classical music in China, and leading advocate of music from across Asia. At Bard, Cai founded the annual China Now Music Festival, which has become a major platform in the West for new works by some of the most important Chinese composers of our time.

With his wife, Sheila Melvin, Cai has coauthored many articles on the performing arts in China, as well as two books, Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese and Beethoven in China: How the Great Composer Became an Icon in the People’s Republic.

In 2015, conductor, educator, and music historian Leon Botstein founded The Orchestra Now (TŌN), a group of vibrant young musicians from across the globe, as a graduate program at Bard College. TŌN offers a three-year master’s degree in curatorial, critical, and performance studies and a two-year advanced certificate in orchestra studies. The orchestra’s home base is the Fisher Center at Bard, where it performs multiple concerts each season and takes part in the annual Bard Music Festival. TŌN performs regularly at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and other venues across New York City and beyond, and has appeared with many distinguished guest conductors and soloists. ton.bard.edu

JinOu Anastasia Dong is a second-year graduate student in the Master of Arts in Chinese Music and Culture Program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music. She started playing pipa at the age of 6 with Cao Yang. She has been studying pipa with Professor Zhang Qiang of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing since 2017. In 2018, she won the gold award at the Beijing Student Art Festival for her solo performance. In the same year, she won the title of “Beijing Art Star.” In 2021, she performed in the concert East/West: A Symphonic Celebration with the New York City Ballet Orchestra at Lincoln Center. In 2022, she won the Bard Conservatory Concerto Competition for her performance of Yun Xiang Hua Xiang (Cloud and Blossoms) by Danhong Wang. Dong has performed premieres extensively with students from The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School of Music, and Columbia University. She has performed numerous times as a member of the Bard East/West Ensemble in New York and Washington, D.C. Recently, she was invited by the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to perform at the Reception Marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Dong holds a bachelor’s degree in arts and a bachelor’s degree in music from the double-degree program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where she majored in pipa performance and global and international studies. In 2022, she studied at the Bard International Global Affairs program in New York City, where she interned with Welcome to Chinatown. She was selected to study abroad at Waseda University in Japan for the spring of 2023. 

Yan Guowei began studying the erhu at the age of nine under the renowned erhu performer, educator, and doctoral advisor, Professor Yu Hongmei, at the Central Conservatory of Music. Yan is currently an associate professor of erhu in the Traditional Instruments Department of the Central Conservatory of Music. She was previously recognized as one of CCTV's "New Top Ten Young Erhu Performers." She has received numerous awards and accolades for outstanding erhu performance, including gold medals in the 9th China Golden Bell Awards, The 4th Wenhua Arts College Award, and the 2011 Taipei Folk Instrument Competition.

At the age of 19, Yan released a personal erhu album titled Transcending Time and Space – Erhu Angel Yan Guowei in Taiwan. She has successfully held several solo recitals and has been invited to perform at major state events, representing the Conservatory in front of international dignitaries, and premiering numerous major new works for erhu. Yan continues to contribute to the erhu repertoire with her dynamic performances, innovative interpretations, and dedication to both teaching and artistic excellence.

Zhang Jingli is a renowned percussionist, professor in the Orchestral Department at the Central Conservatory of Music, and doctoral advisor. She has held positions with the China National Symphony Orchestra and the China Philharmonic Orchestra. She performed at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Paralympics in 2022. Zhang is the principal percussionist of the Arrow Percussion Ensemble, music director of the China International Percussion Arts Festival and Competition, and a jury member for prestigious competitions including the Jeju Percussion Competition in Korea; the Hong Kong International Percussion Competition; and the PAS Italy International Percussion Competition. She has served as the music director for 16 iterations of the Arrow Percussion Arts Festival.

Zhang graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music and pursued further studies in Germany. She has given numerous solo recitals and participated in various ensemble, concerto, and chamber symphony performances, both domestically and internationally. Her performance tours have spanned over 30 countries and regions, and she has collaborated with numerous orchestras, including the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, Germany’s Baden-Baden Symphony Orchestra, Japan’s Nipponica Symphony Orchestra, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Radio Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, and Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra.

Wang Lei is a renowned sheng performer, professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, PhD advisor, and director of the Wind and Percussion Teaching and Research Office in the Department of Traditional Chinese Music. He has received numerous prestigious honors, including the China Golden Bell Award for Music, the Wenhua Arts Academy Award, and the National PhD Scholarship. Wang studied with distinguished professors Yang Shoucheng and Lin Chongzeng.

As a versatile artist, Wang has released five acclaimed albums, including Peacock, Jin Melody, Bell Sheng, Voices of Tibet: New Sheng Works, and Journey Across the Land: Sheng Concertos. He has also authored influential teaching materials such as Sheng Studies and Practical Performance Guide and Easy Learning of Chinese Music: Sheng Edition. Wang has composed original works like “Sheng and Drums in Harmony” and “Distant Bamboo,” and he founded the "He Song Sheng Ensemble," which earned the highest honor at the 8th National Youth Traditional Instrumental Showcase.

Wang has collaborated with leading orchestras and ensembles worldwide, such as the China National Symphony Orchestra, the National Ballet Symphony Orchestra, the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Nieuw Ensemble (Netherlands), the E-MEX Ensemble (Germany), and the WIND Ensemble (Austria).