Ke Yi plays the violin
Artist Ke Yi is Winner of the LABA Icon Award for Lifetime Achievement. His distinguished career in music was followed by a crossover into art where he formed a unique creative style by “incorporating musical thinking into painting”.
I. Basic Information and Educational Background
Ke Yi, Han ethnicity, was born in Fushun, Sichuan Province in August 1953. He is a second-
level professor and a master’s supervisor. (He was once appointed as a doctoral supervisor for
interdisciplinary research between literature and music at Sichuan University.) He started working in 1970 as an educated youth. In 1982, he graduated from the Composition Department of Sichuan Conservatory of Music, majoring in composition. He was engaged in music composition and music education management for many years.
From 2010 to 2014, he served as the president of Sichuan Conservatory of Music. (In 2019, Shinhan University in South Korea awarded Ke Yi a Doctor of Education degree.) Even after retirement, he has remained active in the art field. Currently, he serves as the Honorary Dean of the Violin Art Research Institute of Sichuan Conservatory of Music and the Honorary Director of the Guqin Research Center of Sichuan Conservatory of Music.
Artist Ke Yi
II. Music Composition and Academic Contributions
Representative Works
Yi is renowned for his compositions that integrate traditional Chinese music with modern
techniques.
Award-winning Musical Works
Pipa Concerto: Man Jiang Hong
Flute and Orchestra: Epic of Ashima
Erhu and Pipa Orchestra: Reflections on Reading “Song of Everlasting Regret”
Chinese Orchestral Music: Rhapsody on the Dadu River
Hammered Dulcimer and Chinese Orchestral Music: Ode to the Goddess
All these works are included in The Collection of Chinese Music Works over the Past Century.
Academic Research. He has published several important papers, such as Analysis of the Current Situation of Online Music and A Brief Explanation of Schenker’s Concept of “Improvisation”, and has translated Schenker’s theoretical works.
Promotion of Discipline Construction
1. In 2010, he participated in the compilation and publication of the five-volume Selected
Works of Wang Guangqi (serving as the deputy editor-in-chief). This book won the first prize of
the Sichuan Provincial Social Science Award in 2011.
In 2011, he took the lead in establishing the Electronic Music Department of Sichuan
Conservatory of Music, filling the gap in the cultivation of high-level electronic music talents in
Western China. He also published the first set of domestic “Series of Theories and Techniques of
Electronic Music”.
Education and Management
Yi has long held teaching and administrative leadership positions at Sichuan Conservatory of
Music. He once served as the Deputy Director of the Expert Committee of Higher Art Education
of the Ministry of Education and the Vice President of the Chinese Polyphonic Music Society.
He participated in national-level teaching evaluations and review work, making important contributions to the development of the art education system in Sichuan Province.
Artist Ke Yi
III. Artistic Crossover and Oil Painting Creation
After retiring in 2014, Yi embarked on a career in oil painting creation, forming a unique
creative style by “incorporating musical thinking into painting”.
Creative Achievements
As of 2025, he has completed more than 2,200 oil painting works, including The European
Refugee Crisis, Returning Soul to Seda, Scenery of Beihai, Chasing the Wind, My Heart Will Go
On, and a series of works about musicians and artists. The themes cover portraits, natural
landscapes, and human history.
Artistic Concept
He advocates “the purity of art” and emphasizes that art should carry the depth of thought and
the thickness of emotion.
Crossover Integration
He integrates the thinking of harmony and polyphony in music composition techniques into the
composition and color of paintings, and has been praised as “composing silent music with shapes
and colors”, breaking the boundaries of art and traditional thinking.
Artist Ke Yi
IV. Honors and Social Influence
Personal Honors
He once served as a consultant to the Chinese Musicians Association in the United States, the
Vice President of the Musicians Association of Sichuan Province, and the Honorary Chairman of
the Musicians Association of Chengdu.
Social Evaluation
Art critic Huang Zongxian said that Yi’s oil paintings “carry the depth of emotion with shapes
and colors, and are more touching than works that show off techniques”. He is praised as “a dark horse in the art circle”, and his works show the “patriotic feelings” and social responsibility of intellectuals. In 2019, Shinhan University in South Korea established the “Ke Yi Hall” art gallery in the new teaching building for Ke Yi’s paintings.
Artist Ke Yi
V. Artistic Concept and Life Realm
Yi’s artistic career is characterized by “purity” and “crossover”: Resonance between Music and Painting. He believes that art is “a sincere expression of life experiences”, and creation requires “seeing oneself, seeing the world, and seeing all living beings”.
Collection and Inheritance
Over the past 50 years, he has collected more than 4,000 Chinese and foreign musical instruments, reflecting his respect for and inheritance of diverse cultures. Yi’s multiple identities as a composer, art educator, painter, and collector jointly construct the image of an “omnidirectional artist” who adheres to the essence of art in the process of the development of the times.
The Beverly Arts News is sponsored by Cynthia Clarté, MDSUN, Youben Hu Art Studio, En Guangzhi Art Studio, and The Beverly Arts Foundation
Freda (Xinwen) Ou
Freda (Xinwen) Ou, who previously served as the Chairman of the Los Angeles Beverly Arts (LABA) South China has been named Chairman of the LABA Asia Region in an expanded role. She graduated with a Master of Business Administration from the University of Canberra in Australia and an EMBA from Huashang College of Jinan University. At the helm of the "WahYang Lane" cultural industry brand, with her exceptional leadership and forward-looking vision, she navigates the waves in the business world. In the brilliant galaxy where business and culture blend, Ou shines like a radiant star, exuding a unique and charming glow.
Moreover, Ou is an enthusiastic participant in community activities. In Liwan District, Guangzhou, she serves as the President of the Women Entrepreneurs Association, leading a group of outstanding female entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams. Over more than two decades, she has delved deep into the operation and management of commercial real estate and five-star hotel management industries, accumulating profound professional expertise. With her keen insights into business and art, she has become a highly acclaimed commercial real estate brand planner and spatial artist. At the same time, she also founded "Wealthy Weekly" which is published in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau, leaving a significant mark in the field of financial and entertainment magazines.
The mission of "WahYang Lane" is warm and steadfast: to enable Eastern and Western cultures to embrace each other affectionately across mountains and seas; to let ancient and modern times converge among the bricks and tiles of the buildings, awakening the sleeping history; and to ensure that everyone who steps into this place can reap joy and happiness nurtured by culture. It harbors a grand vision of creating a super commercial cultural tourism complex that integrates the charm of Guangfu culture, historical heritage, top-notch luxury, and modern technology, and becoming a new landmark of urban culture. The values of "The earth's condition is receptive devotion. Thus the superior man who has breadth of character carries the outer world; Embracing all things, magnanimous and vast, all beings will enjoy good fortune and prosperity" are like the cornerstone, supporting "WahYang Lane" to move steadily forward on the path of cultural inheritance and business development.
Freda Ou
The "WahYang Lane" project is like a huge stone thrown into the long river of culture, creating layers of ripples and having a profound international impact. It not only injects new vitality into the historic city of Guangzhou but also becomes a model project in the field of revitalizing cultural relic buildings in China. During the project's implementation, Ou and her team, with a sense of awe for history, conducted in-depth research on every historical and cultural site, as if they were having a dialogue with the past and listening attentively to the stories sealed by the passage of time. They meticulously restored the cultural relic buildings, and while preserving their historical features, they skillfully incorporated modern facilities, allowing the ancient and the modern to coexist harmoniously.
What's even more commendable is that Ou was not satisfied with mere protection and restoration. With an innovative mindset, she introduced diverse cultural and creative industry brands. Among them, the LIGHTHOUSE art space won the "Honorable Mention in the Renovation Category" of the Cultural Architecture Group at the Architecture MasterPrize™ in the United States in 2021. In the ALICE YU fashion design studio, young designers are brimming with inspiration, lighting up the future with their creativity. In the folk customs museum and traditional handicraft experience hall, visitors can immerse themselves in the charm of traditional culture. The trendy Laihui Coffee and MSTAND Coffee brands have become popular places for young people to check in and relax. A series of wonderful cultural activities are held here one after another. Under the nourishment of modern culture, the ancient buildings have regained their vitality, becoming a bridge connecting the past and the future. They have also driven the economic development of the surrounding areas, promoting a harmonious symphony of development between culture and the economy.
In 2025, "WahYang Lane" sets sail on a new journey, embarking on a magnificent global cultural dissemination campaign. After successfully revitalizing the Shamian historical block, Ou has set her sights on the world stage. She has been invited to serve as the President of the Asian Region of the LABA International Art Festival in Los Angeles, USA, and is determined to create a world-class art platform. Here, artists from around the world will gather, with the artistic concepts of the East and the West colliding passionately, and cultural elements of tradition and modernity, as well as the East and the West, blending with each other and bursting into brilliant sparks. The online and offline display and communication network will break down geographical barriers, enabling traditional Eastern culture to cross national borders and reach the world. At the same time, through in-depth cooperation with international brands, a rich variety of art and fashion peripheral products will be derived, injecting a continuous stream of vitality into the historical block and making Eastern culture shine brightly in every corner of the world.
Ou is like a cultural envoy, using love and wisdom to build a solid bridge between business and culture. She has not only achieved remarkable accomplishments in promoting international urban development and cultural heritage protection but also contributed Eastern strength to global cultural exchange and integration, making the ancient and splendid Eastern culture shine even more brightly in modern society and becoming a dazzling pearl in the world's cultural treasure trove!
The Beverly Arts News is sponsored by Cynthia Clarté, MDSUN, Youben Hu Art Studio, En Guangzhi Art Studio, and The Beverly Arts Foundation
Updated: 1 day ago
Gene Yuxin Chen
Gene Yuxin Chen is a winner of the Los Angeles Beverly Arts Icon Award for Best Visionary Entrepreneur. He completed his studies at a professional drama university in Shanghai in 1989, and has been a visionary leader in both entertainment and business, developing many successful companies. He has worked as a stage and film actor, as well as a movie director and producer. He established a Chinese language center, a martial arts center, and taught Chinese Kung Fu. He also founded a number of successful companies - an import and export business, an e-commerce enterprise, a multi-level marketing company, and a blockchain universal business.
The Beverly Arts News is sponsored by Cynthia Clarté, MDSUN, Youben Hu Art Studio, En Guangzhi Art Studio, and The Beverly Arts Foundation