A B O U T U S
Emily Zhao founded the Sound of Wishes Ensemble (SoWE) in 2017. From its initial small group of Guzheng musicians, Sound of Wishes has always been dedicated to cultivating cultural diversity and helping under-resourced kids in the community.
Every year, SoWE performs all throughout the Chicagoland area, with the goal of raising awareness for Eastern Asian culture and music. In addition, we are active on our Youtube channel and offer Guzheng music lessons as well in hopes of inspiring others to learn, listen, and value Eastern music.
Through various fundraisers, scholarships, and donations, SoWE has raised over $10,000 for organizations committed to providing relief for kids with limited opportunities, such as Make-A-Wish Foundation and Feeding America.
Completely run by young adults, Sound of Wishes is officially regiestered as a 501c3 certified Nonprofit Organization. All donations and other proceeds go directly toward our mission.
For performance, Guzheng lessons or contact inquiries, please visit our "Guzheng Lessons" page.
L e a r n m o r e a b o u t e a c h d i v i s i o n h e r e !
A p p l y b e l o w .
O U R T E AM
Applications
APPLICATIONS OPEN NOW!
If you are interested in joining our team for any of the five divisions (see above), please fill out this brief FORM!
We will get back to you to discuss your membership in greater detail.
Meet the Team!
Angela Wang
Co-Founder/President
Musical Performance
Angela is currently a junior in highschool. She has been playing guzheng for eight years .In her spare time, she enjoys edits videos, for both SoWE and school projects. She's a member of Chicago Children’s Choir’s and a Tzu Shao volunteer for the Tzu Chi Foundation. She also enjoys Chinese dance, hurdles, plays volleyball and badminton.
Jasmine Fong
Vice-President
Musical Performance
Jasmine is currently a junior in high school. She has been learning guzheng for five years as a student of Sowe founder Emily Zhao. Along with Guzheng, Jasmine is also part of the Red Dragon swim team. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling to different places, such as Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Mika Chang
Director of IT and Communications
Musical Performance
Arthur Cai
Director of Film Production
Richard Wang
Film Production
Richard is currently a sophomore at Walter Payton College Prep and is learning to play the piano. He is interested in learning more about Chinese history and stories, such as poems and idioms. He enjoys listening to music and playing sports such as badminton and volleyball in his free time.
George Yang
IT Department
Jocelyn Lin
JV Musical Performance
Film Production
Sofie Lu
JV Musical Performance
Andrew Luo
JV Musical Performance
Film Production
Andrew is currently an sophmore. He has been learning guzheng for three years as a student of SoWE and Sophia Zhao. He is interested in Chinese culture, including arts, food, and dances. He likes to play the piano, and Boy Scouts.
美琳
JV Musical Performance
Communications Department
美琳 is a 13-year-old with 3-4 years of experience playing the Guzheng, and she has passed the Level Four China National Orchestra Society Test. She is a creative person with a passion for writing, practicing martial arts, and engaging in debates/leadership type activities. She is currently Angela Wang's student.
George Yang
IT Department
George is currently a seventh grader at Kennedy Junior High School. In his free time, he likes playing the piano, swimming, reading, and hanging out with his friends.
Board of Directors
Sound of Wishes' official 501c3 Nonprofit Core Board of Directors:
President: Angela Wang
Vice Presidents: Jasmine Fong & Mika Chang
Treasurer: Guang Shi
Secretary: Hui He
Legal Officer: Xin Zhang
Marketing Officer: Stella Fong
Directors:
Communications: Andrew Luo
IT: Richard Wang
Film Production: Arthur Cai
ALUMNI
2022 Graduates
EMILY ZHAO
FOUNDER/PRESIDENT
Northwestern University
ELI XU
TECHNOLOGY LEAD
Tsinghua University
2023 Graduates
DANIEL WANG
VP & FILM PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
United States Air Force Academy
MAX YANG
VP & IT DIRECTOR
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
2024 Graduates
SOPHIA ZHAO
CO-FOUNDER, PRESIDENT
University of Georgia
