Formally established in 1996, the UK Chinese Ensemble (UKCE) is a dedicated professional Chinese music organisation comprising renowned Chinese virtuosi resident mainly in Britain. Its founding members include world-class guqin master professor Li Xiangting, Daoist and erhu music expert Chen Dacan and pipa/guqin virtuoso and ethnomusicologist Dr Cheng Yu. Since its inception, the ensemble and its musicians have performed many hundreds of concerts, festivals and workshops throughout the UK and in Europe. The group has appeared at such major venues as the London Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room and Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Royal Opera House and at the Brighton, Edinburgh and Pontardawe (Wales) Festivals. In Europe and beyond, the musicians have performed at the festivals of WOMEX (Spain), WOMAD (Canada, Sweden and Finland), Spoleto (Italy), Masala (Germany) and Babel Med Music (France). Apart from many published CD albums (see CD Recordings), the musicians are in demand for film and TV music recordings such as Disney’s film Mulan and Shanghai Noon and the BBC’s Wild China documentary. The UKCE has initiated and supported its award-winning group the Silk String Quartet and the popular Silk and Bamboo Ensemble as well as a Chinese-Western mixed ensemble, the Yin-Yang Collective. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.