Qiu Xia He (chu sha her): Pipa 
teacher, performer, composer and music producer

Born in the province of Shaanxi China, Qiu Xia has had two notable careers in music: as a performer and teacher back home, and then as performer, composer, producer and teacher in Canada. 

Qiu Xia was introduced to playing music at five. At thirteen, recognized as a professional and toured with large ensembles for six years. With intense determination, she overcame all competition and went on to study at the Xian Music Academy where she became an expert in Pipa repertoire and Chinese music. Due to her exceptional achievements, she was invited to the faculty as an instructor after graduating in 1987.

Since immigrating to Canada in 1989, through her music, Qiu Xia has made friends all around the world, and has delighted audiences everywhere. Invited as a featured soloist with a few symphony orchestras such as Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Montana USA and Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Czech. With her own ensembles Silk Road Music and JouTou, Qiu Xia has forged her own stamp on the world music stage by extending the techniques and approaches of the traditional Pipa. She has participated in thousands of performances over her career.

As an educator, with her deep traditional roots and vast live performing experience, Qiu Xia is intent on introducing Chinese music to all nationalities and share her passion for music playing. Besides private teaching, she has been actively involved in mainstream Canadian education with such organizations like: Artists in Residence for the Vancouver school board, Learning Through Arts of the Royal Conservatory of Canada, Britannia World Music Program, Artstarts Vancouver, Prologue to the Performing Arts of Ontario. Now, VSO School of Music.

Pipa teaching in both English and Chinese:
Foundation, plus advanced technique and repertoire
Discover the Pipa for cross cultural composition
Appreciation of music through learning an instrument

Chinese Folk Music study:
Village Tales: a CD and 40 page Booklet of 12 Chinese folk songs in both English and Mandarin as a source for libraries, students, musicians, and folk music lovers.

Key performances:
BBC International recital, Edmonton Folk Festival, Winspear and Chan Centres, UBC,Toronto Harbourfront Festival, Vancouver and Montreal Jazz Festivals, 2010 Olympiad Vancouver, Children’s Festivals across Canada, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Guang Zhou China, Langon-France and countless cities in the USA such as New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco,Oklahoma, Honolulu, Sitka.Etc.

Film,CD composing and producing:
In our own hand (documentary on Li jiang people of China)
Songs in The Key of Culture
4 Silk Road Music CDs:Endless/Village Tales/Autumn Cloud/Standing Out
Rocket ship (animation)

Music Awards:
Village Tales ( winner of West Coast music award)
Endless ( winner of West Coast music award,Juno nomination)
Autumn Cloud ( Canadian Folk Music nominations)
Tears of the Lotus ( fiction movie and Leo Award Nomination)
Island of Shadows ( TV documentary Leo Award Nomination)