24 year old classical cellist and multi-genre electric cellist Tina Guo
has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras internationally,
including the San Diego Symphony, the State of Mexico National
Symphony, the Thessaloniki State Symphony in Greece, the Petrobras
Symphony and the Barra Mansa Symphony in Brazil, and the Vancouver
Island Symphony in British Columbia. Upcoming concerts include solo
engagements
with
symphonies
throughout the USA,
Italy, and Israel. Tina recently recorded with the
tango group, Triango for FIM Records in Slovakia, and
the Vivaldi Concerto in C minor for Cello, Harpischord, and
Strings, as well as the Elgar
Concerto in Italy for Wide Classics. She played at the
American Country Music Awards with Carrie Underwood and soloed on the
electric cello alongside Johnny Marr of the Smiths and Hans Zimmer at
the Premiere of "Inception" in Hollywood. Tina also recently
performed and recorded as a guest with the Miles Evans Band.
Tina performed
at the Grammy Awards with the Foo Fighters, at the MTV Movie
Awards, on American Idol, during Comic Con at the House of Blues
in San Diego as
the cellist and electric cellist of the Battlestar Galactica Orchestra,
and with
Brazilian guitarist Victor Biglione in a Jimi Hendrix Tribute Concert
at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janiero. Tina was featured on
Al. B Sure's new single, "I Love It" from his 2009 album "Honey, I'm
Home," and appeared with him in Billboard
Magazine. She also recently finished a month-long classical
recital tour raising money for a Buddhist Temple/Organization
throughout
Indonesia. Tina is the featured cello and
electric cello soloist for Hans Zimmer's score for "Sherlock Holmes,"
John Debney's "Iron Man 2" score. She is also featured
on acoustic and electric cello solos
for Bill Brown's CSI:NY score.
Season highlights have included a performance with violinist Midori
Goto in Dvorak's American String Quartet at Walt Disney Concert Hall in
Los Angeles, and a tour of Mexico performing the Shostakovich Cello
Concerto under the baton of Maestro Enrique Batiz. Tina also performed
with her progressive metal band at the wrap party
for the Sundance Film Festival in Utah,
and was featured in a wildlife benefit concert at the Playboy Mansion.
She has also performed with Stevie Wonder, Josh Groban, John Legend,
LeAnn Rhimes, Chris Isaak, Il Divo, Peter Gabriel, and Michael
McDonald. Tina
was also
featured in a show for the PGA. Tina
recently recorded solo cello for John Legend and Tila Tequila, played
on Derek Sherinian's new album with Zakk Wylde, shot a
music video with Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire, played in the
soundtrack for "Hancock," "Inception," "Clash of the Titans,"
"Predators," and on the TV
shows "Family Guy," "American Dad," "King of the Hill," among
many others. Tina was also in the
Pussycat Dolls' new music video for the remixed "Hush Hush." She
also recorded solo electric cello for the score of "Iron Chef."
Her
arrangement and
performance of "The Flight of the Bumble-Bee" was featured in the end
credits for Ben Stiller's movie, "The Heartbreak Kid." Tina also
recorded on
the electric cello in an album for the Yamaha SV Quartet Series which
were distributed to music programs in schools nationwide, introducing
electric string instruments to the music curriculum in America.
Tina performs for Yamaha at NAMM and also opened
the NAMM Coffin Case Fashion Show/Party with
Korn guitarist Shane Gibson at the last convention in Los Angeles.
Tina toured with rock/classical crossover girl-band "Metaphor" through
Australia, performing 22 consecutive shows in 21 cities on the electric
cello. She co-presented string workshops and clinics for aspiring
young musicians as a part of the tour's outreach program. Tina
also traveled to France and Brazil with the "Pegasus Piano
Trio" for the Franco-Américaine Rencontre de Musique de la
Chambre at the Château de la Bretesche in Missillac and the Rio
International Cello Encounter. Tina has performed the Elgar and
Saint-Saens Concertos
with the Petrobras and Barra Mansa Symphonies while in Brazil.
She also performed with
crossover pianist William Joseph in Majorca, Spain for the
International Philanthropy Summit.
Tina recently gave a classical cello masterclass at Colorado State
University, and also presented classical and alternative electric
cello workshops at local high schools in the state. Tina also gave
masterclasses in Brazil at the Rio
International Cello Encounter. She often includes local school
visits in conjunction with her concerts and tours, and has recently
finished a month-long national charity tour of Indonesia raising money
for a new Buddhist temple in Medan and bringing classical music to the
country. In each city besides performing the recital programs,
Tina gave presentations on the acoustic cello to local students, many
of whom had no knowledge of what the instrument was before the
clinic.
Tina has won first prize in many competitions, including the Music
Heritage Inc. String Competition, the MTAC, ASTA, and CAPMT California
State Solo Competitions, and the Parness Concerto
Competition for Young Artists; she was awarded the "Most Promising
Talent" Award at the California Young Artists Competition. Tina
also placed first in the University of Southern California Thorton
School's Concerto Competition, as well as the San Diego Symphony Young
Artists Concerto Competition. A published
composer, she has also been awarded first place in the MTNA California
State Composition Competition for her series of cello duets. They can
be found in Davina Music Publications' chamber music books. Some
of Tina's new age/classical compositions can be heard on her 2009 CD
release, "Autumn Winds." She also writes and arranges music in
the rock/metal genres.
Tina's musical education began at the age of 3, when she studied piano
in Shanghai, China. After coming to America at the age of 5, she
began violin lessons with her mother and later began playing the cello
under the instruction of her father,
Lu-Yan Guo at the age of 7. Tina continued her professional cello
studies with Eleonore
Schoenfeld at the the University of Southern
California's Thorton School of Music on full scholarship, and was also
a Governor's Scholar.
Equally serious and devoted to both her classical and metal music,
Tina hopes to open the hearts and ears of audiences of seemingly
juxtaposing genres. She continues to balance the spiritual and
technical eloquence of classical music in manipulating the music and
emotion within a defined boundary, and the visceral excitement of
paving a new path as a serious rock musician. "A virtuoso on
the
classical cello, the 23-year-old crossover artist is equally skilled as
a powerhouse shredder on the electric cello, masterfully balancing
classical elegance with her inner metal child." (The Overture, May
2009)
Tina's first solo CD, "Autumn Winds," a
classical/new-age album is available on iTunes. Her metal
music video
single "Queen Bee" was released in August 2009, premiering at the LA
Downtown Film Festival. The music video won "Best Music
Video/Short Film" at the Festival and was also nominated for
"Best Music Video" by the Hollywood Music and Media Awards, at which
Tina was the featured performer for the awards
show. Tina has
just finished recording Chopin's Introduction and
Polonaise and Piazzolla's Le Grand Tango in Singapore with Christine
Utomo for her next solo record. Tina is also in the studio
writing and recording for a new metal project in development.
Tina performs on a 1880 Gand & Bernadel.
On electric cello, she plays a Custom Tina Guo Model Yamaha SVC-210 and
is an Official
Yamaha
Performing Artist and Clinician.
Tina also endorses Carvin, Voodoo Lab, Coffin Case, Pedaltrain, Zoom,
and
Samson.
www.Quillsquotesandnotes.com, April 2007
By Rosemary Phillips
"I am at a loss for words to describe Tina Guo, a young woman of such
intense passion for her art; in fact I am left speechless. What I feel is
immense awe and hope fulfilled to know that this world will be,
in the near future, cradled in the hands of such gifted and philosophical
young people who delve into a far deeper meaning and understanding of life
– in this case – through music."
All Access Magazine, 13 November 2008
By Giuseppe S. Canzonieri
"Saying that Tina is a talented musician is an understatement."
"Utterly speechless and amazed."
"A musical prodigy."
Indaba Music Online, 16 January 2009
By Yo-Yo Ma
"Very Virtuosic."
ASIA Journal of Culture and Commerce, 23 March 2009
By Rosalynn Carmen
"Tina Guo and her band pretty much took the roof off the house."
The Pueblo Chieftan, 11 March 2007
By Pierre Canyon
"The performance of the Dvorak cello concerto proved to be a delight to the
ear, the mind and the heart."
El Sol de Toluca, 13 October 2006
By Gabriela Rangel
"Guo's interpretive quality and flawless performance was moving and excited
the audience immensely. She is a great artist at only 20 years old."
"When I play my cello, I am completely pure, naked, and open. I long for the moments when my outer shell no longer matters. I hunger for every genuine tear of sorrow, joy, or understanding shared. When you can hear me for who I am, and see me in a way that doesn't involve looking at me, but rather looking through me, only then can I be satisfied.
When I play, I see ghosts. I am only aware of undiluted emotions manifesting; those that arise from the tribulations of life and of death, of the most beautiful love and the most heart wrenching grief. The same purity of feeling that has inspired every creator of art, of music; every human being that has ever dreamed of an ideal, lives in the flowing melodies. Expression through an abstract is blessed in its form to be free from the stains of reality.
When I make music, I rediscover my identity. Not a daughter, a sister, a lover, nor a friend, but only one soul connected to every other person that has walked the earth.
I ache to show you what is inside my heart. I ache to be understood. I ache for all of us to understand our humanity. I ache to tell the world an eternal story. Watch me, hear me pray in the only way I know how."