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A B O U T   U S

Emily Zhao founded the Sound of Wishes Ensemble (SoWE) in 2017 with co-founders Sophia Zhao and Angela Wang. 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 $36,000 for organizations committed to providing relief for kids with limited opportunities, such as Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feeding America, and the Lurie Children's Hospital.
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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.

5 Departments
Applications

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.

Ensemble

Meet the Team!

Angela Wang

Co-Founder/President

Musical Performance 

Angela is currently a senior in high school. 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.

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Jasmine Fong

Vice President

Musical Performance

Jasmine is currently a senior at Lane Tech High School. She has been learning Gu Zheng for seven years as a student of SoWE founder, Emily Zhao. Along with Guzheng, Jasmine runs Children Cancer Club at Lane Tech. In her spare time, she enjoys learning about the different cultures of the world and traveling to different places, such as Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Thailand, Mexico, Hong Kong, and more!

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Mika Chang

Vice President

Musical Performance 

Mika is a high school senior who has been passionately playing the violin for 9 years. Whether it’s making music in an orchestra, through her music cover YouTube channel, or by mixing her East Asian heritage with her traditionally Western instrument through the Sound of Wishes Ensemble performances, Mika is always looking to share her passions with the world. You can also find her involved in playing badminton, mastering the Chinese Yoyo, or content creating for her music comedy Instagram page.

Jocelyn Lin

Musical Performance 

Jocelyn is currently a sophomore in high school. She has been playing the violin for ten years. She also likes playing badminton and oil painting.

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Jingshu Xu

Musical Performance

Communications Department

Jingshu Xu (Angie) is a sophomore in high school. She is very good at playing the Hulusi flute, which is a very unique traditional Chinese instrument. Jingshu has been performing for over 8 years. Other than this instrument, Jingshu also enjoys drawing and animating various projects.

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Andrew Luo

JV Musical Performance 

Communications Director

Andrew is currently a junior attending Naperville Central High School. He has been playing the guzheng for four years. He is interested in Chinese culture, including arts, food, and music. In his spare time, he likes to solve mathematics problems, practice for SoWE projects and workout in the gym.

Sophia Lu

JV Musical Performance

Film Production

Sofie is currently a freshman in high school. She has been playing Guzheng for almost four years. In her spare time, she likes to sing and run cross country.

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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 Five China National Orchestra Society Test. She is a creative person, she practices martial arts, and she engages in debates/leadership type activities. 美琳 is apart of her leadership team at school and is apart of the nationwide NJHS (National Junior Honor Society) program. She is currently Angela Wang's student.

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Arthur Cai

Director of Film Production

Richard Wang

IT Director

Richard is currently a junior at Walter Payton College Prep and is learning to play the piano. He is heavily involved within the school's Asian American community. He enjoys listening to music and playing sports such as badminton and basketball in his free time.

Board of Directors

Amy Yan 

Film Production

Amy is currently an 8th grader. She enjoys exploring about different new technologies, playing violin and cooking.

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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.

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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

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ALUMNI

2022 Graduates

EMILY ZHAO 
FOUNDER/PRESIDENT

Northwestern University

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ELI XU
TECHNOLOGY LEAD

Tsinghua University

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2023 Graduates

DANIEL WANG
VP & FILM PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

United States Air Force Academy

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MAX YANG
VP & IT DIRECTOR

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

2024 Graduates

SOPHIA ZHAO
CO-FOUNDER, PRESIDENT

University of Georgia

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