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General's Aria 8:550:00/8:55
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Hijaz La Rosa 6:480:00/6:48
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Tidal 2:200:00/2:20
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Weeping Willow 3:390:00/3:39
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Opening the Gates 5:160:00/5:16
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Conjuring Rain 4:580:00/4:58
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0:00/9:23
About
Winnie & Diana
We met 14 years ago and immediately fell in love with each other’s instruments and artistic visions.
We’re a true Bay Area duo, and sharing the discoveries that emerge from this friendship is at the heart of Liu Xi.
Diana Rowan |
HARP | |
Winnie Wong |
GUZHENG |
Last night I felt as though I'd been allowed to eavesdrop on a deep, beautiful conversation - between the guzheng and the harp, and also between two fully present musicians with two distinct personalities that were both contrasting and harmonious. The pairing of their ancient instruments was haunting: like twins separated at birth and raised on opposite sides of the planet, who discover in their shared DNA the voice of their distant mother. Winnie and Diana seemed to channel this connection, listening to and reacting to each other conjuring rhythms, harmonies, and resonances from their separate traditions and shared birth until the musicians, instruments, and audience were transmuted into a living creation and experience. It was fantastic and I was spell bound. I know that this Phoenix is there! patiently waiting to arise again at their next performance. I'll be there!
In our own words
Winnie Wong
I was born in Hong Kong and raised in San Francisco. I began studying guzheng at four with virtuoso Weishan Liu and made my public debut at five. Deeply rooted in Chinese musical tradition, I’m passionate about improvisation, contemporary music, and connections across cultures.
I bring inherited techniques into new arrangements, honoring the guzheng’s heritage while exploring its possibilities today. In 2003, I founded China’s Spirit Music Ensemble, a home where generations of guzheng players deepen their artistry, celebrate their heritage, and share the beauty and vitality of this extraordinary instrument.
Diana Rowan
I’m an Irish-born harpist, pianist, composer, author, and teacher, and I make music that brings ancient traditions into conversation with life today. I was raised in a diplomatic family, and that international upbringing shaped a musical language drawing on Celtic, Balkan, Middle Eastern, and classical traditions, with innovation and improvisation at its heart.
My performances have taken me from the World Harp Congress in Australia to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, and the US Embassy in Vietnam. My solo albums, Panta Rhei and The Bright Knowledge, reflect these wide-ranging influences.
I hold a PhD in music theory, specializing in world harp techniques for composers, and an MM in classical piano performance. I’m the author of The Bright Way: Five Steps to Freeing the Creative Within and founder of the Bright Way Guild online school, where I help people reconnect with their unique creative voices.
BRING LIU XI TO YOUR AUDIENCE
We welcome inquiries from concert presenters, festivals, cultural organizations, and house-concert hosts.
Our performances bring harp and guzheng into a musical conversation across cultures, with stories that invite audiences closer to the instruments and their music.
Tell us about your venue, proposed date, and the gathering you have in mind.
That was really spectacular last night. I was very moved by what you and Winnie have created. you two as musicians, and with your instruments as well, have a beautiful symbiosis. I was so happy to hear that you're going to make a recording together!! I want those sounds at my beck and call.
Videos
Photos
PHOTO GALLERY
Events
Strings of Memory: Harp and Guzheng Across Cultures
Irish harp melodies meet Chinese classics, Sephardic song, and original music in an intimate conversation between harp and guzheng. Liu Xi / Willow Stream weaves historical playing techniques with spontaneous improvisation, exploring how music carries stories of belonging, resilience, and renewal. Along the way, Winnie Wong and Diana Rowan share the stories behind their instruments and demonstrate how melodies transform as they pass between musical traditions. Expect shimmering textures, spirited exchanges, and discoveries made together in the moment.
Where does this music come from? Our music grows from traditions carried through generations of performers, teachers, and communities. We draw on the music of Irish harper-bard Turlough O’Carolan (1670–1738), Chinese melodies such as Jasmine Flower, and traditional guzheng repertoire including the centuries-old Emerging Lotus. Sephardic songs such as La Rosa Enflorece bring another thread of cultural memory into our work.
Our instruments themselves have long lineages, the harp going back to 3000 BCE Egyptian harp depictions, and the guzheng documented for over 2500 years. Our instruments traveled far and wide, embraced by many cultures and eras, giving us a huge palette to draw from. So we also feature historical art forms such as the Balinese pelog scale, Hindustani raga alap, and Middle Eastern heterophony in our music.
Winnie’s guzheng lineage began with her teacher, virtuoso Weishan Liu. Diana brings her Irish heritage and doctoral research into harp techniques from around the world. These inheritances influence how we ornament melodies, bend pitches, explore resonance, and develop musical ideas as a whole.
Our arrangements and original compositions combine written passages with improvisation, another format that has long historical precedent. For example, we may introduce melodies separately, exchange them between instruments, and discover how each changes through another musical perspective. We love sharing the stories behind these choices, inviting listeners to hear tradition as a living practice.