Wong, Betty Ann (1938—)
Wong, Betty Ann (1938—)
American composer, pianist, instrumentalist and lecturer . Name variations: Siu Junn. Born in San Francisco, California, on September 6, 1938.
Co-managed the Flowing Stream Ensemble, a Chinese silk and bamboo orchestra whose repertoire covered 25 centuries; composed Chinese and Western music.
As a composer, who also played the piano, banjo, gong, Chinese recorder and zither, Betty Ann Wong combined her Chinese heritage with her love of American music. Her father, a scholar and poet, and her mother, a schoolteacher, taught their daughter Chinese studies. She studied music at Mills College under Morton Subot-nick, Nathan Rubin, and Colin Hampton. In addition, Wong studied Chinese music under David Liang, Lawrence Lui, and Leo Lew. She became a piano teacher at the San Francisco Music Conservatory and the University of California at San Diego. She also set up the Community Center Chinese Music Workshops through a Rockefeller grant. Through her music, Wong was able to combine the culture from which she came with the culture in which she lives.
John Haag , Athens, Georgia