Ziqing Guan

Q Fusion purchased at Flute Center of New York

Ziqing Guan recently earned her DMA degree in August 2023 at the University of South Carolina. She is originally from Guangzhou, China, and holds flute performance degrees from Texas State University and Xinghai Conservatory of Music in China. A first-prize winner in the Flute Society of Kentucky Young Artist Competition, the South Carolina Flute Society Young Artist Competition, and the Southern China Solo & Ensemble Invitational Competition, she has also been a prize winner and finalist in the San Diego Flute Guild Young Artist Competition, the Mid-South Flute Society Young Artist Competition, and the Greater Philadelphia Flute Society Young Artist Competition. In addition, she was a quarterfinalist in the 2022 NFA Young Artist Competition. Her principal teachers include Dr. Jennifer Parker-Harley, Dr. Adah Jones, and Professor Qi Yan.

Ziqing started learning flute at nine and was active in the youth orchestra in Guangzhou from eleven to sixteen. At age fifteen, she was accepted to attend the Xinghai Conservatory of Music Affiliated Secondary School of Music in Guangzhou, China. During her study at the Xinghai Conservatory, she was the principal flute in the school orchestra as well as several community orchestras. Ziqing came to the U.S. for her graduate studies in 2015; she holds an MM degree from Texas State University and a DMA from the University of South Carolina.

Equally adept as a solo recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, she has appeared in concert at Musicartissimo Flute Master Class and Recital in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and the Mid-Atlantic Flute 2022 Virtual Convention "Inspirations of Our Heritage" Concert. Her flute quartet at the Xinghai Conservatory won the second prize in the China Flute Association Chamber Music Competition, and she was a member of the flute quartet Duende at the UofSC, first prize winners in the Flute Society of Kentucky Chamber Music Competition. Ziqing was the principal flutist of the Texas State Chamber Orchestra European Tour with performances at Martinu Hall of the Academy of Music in Prague, Parish Church of Luxemburg, and Mom Culture Center in Budapest. She has also played with the Aiken Symphony and Rock Hill Symphony in South Carolina.

In addition to performing, Ziqing is a dedicated and passionate music educator. She was a Teaching Assistant at the University of South Carolina flute studio, taking responsibility for teaching flute minor and music education students, coaching chamber groups, and helping with studio administration. In her role as TA, she also served as a board member of the South Carolina Flute Society, organizing the 2020 and 2021 South Carolina Flute Society Festivals and competitions. In June-August 2023, Ziqing is a Flute Teaching Assistant at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan, where she works with aspiring flutists from ages 8-18.

Outside of music, Ziqing loves to work out and, in 2021, was certified by the American Council on Exercise as a personal trainer. Her doctoral research combines her passions for flute-playing and exercise; her DMA document is entitled Injury Prevention Exercise Guidelines for Flutists. In it, she explores the relationship between strength-training and injury prevention, and offers a detailed exercise plan and a practice plan incorporating stretching and strength-building for flutists who suffer PRMDs (playing-related musculoskeletal disorders) as well as those who wish to prevent these common playing-related injuries. Ziqing has presented workshops and classes on this topic at the South Carolina Flute Society Festival and Interlochen Arts Camp. She hopes to expand on her document to publish a book and develop a website offering this information to flutists and other instrumentalists worldwide.