Guo brothers biography of alberta

Liner notes

Music has always been a vital part of the Guo Brothers’ lives.  Their father was a well-known erhu player (Chinese two-stringed violin) and a fine singer.  During the Cultural Revolution their mother was despatched to the countryside and, on their father’s death, the boys were left to grow up in the Musicians Compound.  In Peking professional working people lived together in such ‘compounds’ and so, surrounded by other musicians, Yi and Yue naturally moved towards music as a career.  Self-motivation drove them to studying.  Living in extreme poverty, they picked up tuition as they could, even paying teachers in measures of cooking-oil.

The brothers began playing various instruments and now Yue specialises in Chinese flutes while Yi plays the ancient sheng, a hand-held mouth-blown organ.

Yue’s first professional job was in the Army Orchestra of the People’s Republic of China, travelling to remote areas to entertain troops and carrying his flute across the country