Jing Xia

Jing Xia is an award winning guzheng artist and ethnomusicologist based in Newfoundland, Canada. Born and raised in Hunan, China, Xia started to study the guzheng at six years old and has degrees in music performance (B.A.), arts management (M.A.), and ethnomusicology (Ph.D.). Xia is the winner of the 2022 MusicNL award “Rising Star of the Year,” the 2022 Artist in Residence at Lawnya Vawnya, and a recent nominee for two 2023 ECMA Awards (Global Recording of the Year; Roots/Traditional Recording of the Year).

As a performer of all styles, her musical journey on the guzheng has encompassed Chinese traditional and folk music to intercultural ensembles, improvisational music, and beyond. Her 2022 guzheng CD “The Numinous Journey” shows her diverse musical pathways and presents the guzheng in a wide range of musical genres. Xia has played with various musicians and musical groups, including guzheng virtuoso Mei Han, Newfoundland trad-rock band Shanneyganock, and Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra. In 2018, she performed the world premiere of “The Congruent Place” in collaboration with the Regina-based composer Clinton Ackerman at the St. John’s Sound Symposium XIX. In January 2023, Xia world premiered Jubilant Entanglements, a guzheng concerto by well-known composer Andrew Staniland with Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Xia has been active in the music scenes in North America and performed in diverse musical events, including Newfoundland Folk Festival, Nashville Chinese New Year Festival, and Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Moving her tradition into the future, Xia funded the Light Wind Ensemble, the first Chinese ensemble in Newfoundland, and XIA-III, a fusion intercultural band, with a repertoire ranging from Chinese classics to free improv and post-rock music.