Chi Fen Youth Performing Arts Association
About ChiFen
ChiFen Vancouver Youth Performing Arts Association officially recognized by the government on March 21, 2019, both the first day of spring and the 334th birthday of the father of western music, J.S. Bach.
The Foundation logo symbolizes the spirit of music which continually brings new life and hope as we pass on the gift of music to the next generation. The name ChiFen is a combination of my father and mother’s name and was created to honor their memory and the great encouragement and support they gave me in my musical education.
The foundation will help with financial support for our regular studio concerts and music events, but our vision is that in the future as the Foundation grows, we might be a able to offer more performing and educational opportunities for our students.
Thank you for your generous support of this exciting new venture and for the privilege of sharing the joy of music together.
Meet the teacher
Taiwanese born Joyce Kuan Yi Ho started her musical training at a very young age with studies in piano and cello. She completed her RCM studies in piano and cello and after immigrating to Canada, she was accepted into the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra. At age seventeen she began her vocal training with Mrs. Ruth Huang Suzuki. Joyce later entered the UBC School of Music with a major in opera and had the privilege to receive her training in one of the most prominent opera performance training programs in North America.
Joyce debuted with the UBC Opera Ensemble at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts as Filipyevna in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. As a member of the Opera Ensemble, she was chosen to sing in masterclasses with international music figures such as Judith Forst, Malcolm Martineau, Stuart Hamilton and Irving Guttmann. She was also a finalist in the UBC Concerto competition. Joyce was a recipient of the Fraser Valley Kiwanis Music Festival Most Outstanding Vocalist award and was chosen to compete as a finalist in the Provincial Music Festival. Joyce later had her debut in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre with Vancouver Opera in their Voices of the Pacific Rim Concert. She has also given a recital of German Lieder for the Kwantlen University Guest Artist Series and she was the mezzo soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Handel Society of Vancouver.
In August 2014, Joyce was the mezzo soloist in the Chinese Culture Arts Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Later that year, she was a solo performer for a Thanksgiving concert with Taiwanese Canadian Culture Society at the Playhouse Theatre, and she was invited by the Canadian Immigration Department and Tzu-Chi Foundation to perform the national anthem at a special citizenship ceremony. She is also a frequent honoured performer for the Concerts in Care series of the Vancouver Health Arts Society.
Over the past several years, Joyce has discovered her passion for teaching and she has built a highly successful private music studio. She was very proud to see the establishment in March, 2019 of the ChiFen Vancouver Youth Performing Arts Association which is named in loving memory of her parents. Joyce is deeply grateful for the opportunities her parents gave her to take music lessons and discover her love of music, which has been a great source of strength and comfort throughout her life. Her belief is that music is one of the greatest gifts we can give to our children and her desire is to honor her parents by sharing the beauty and joy of music with each one of her students.