Thousand Oaks Chinese Folk Ensemble (TOCFE)

In May 2006, six amateur Chinese folk instrumentalists came together on a casual occasion to celebrate their shared childhood passion. This marks the informal inception of the Thousand Oaks Chinese Folk Ensemble (hereinafter TOCFE,千橡民樂坊).

Over the past fifteen years, we have had five terms of leadership. The current director is Patrick Xie, the deputy director is Jun You, and the conductor is Xingzhong Xia. Our Ensemble has grown from six to more than twenty members.

TOCFE typically has two performance seasons: September/Mid-Autumn Festival or May/Dragon Boat Music Festival, and February/Lunar Spring Festival. TOCFE has performed a variety of repertoire, including “Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon,” “Dance of the Golden Snake,” “Overture of the Spring Festival,” “Peking Melody,” “Camel Bell,” “Picking up Reeds Flower,” “Dance Melody of Yao,” and “Beautiful Lake Tai.” In particular, TOCFE has experimented with collaborations with other local groups to successfully produce works such as “Colorful Yunnan,” “Swan Geese,” “Return Home,” “Jasmine Flower,” and many other pieces. Members of TOCFE proudly believe that they have not only enriched their own daily lives, but more importantly, they have also contributed to bridging Eastern and Western music, while strengthening cultural and educational exchanges within the local community.

TOCFE Director/Deputy Director and Art Director

2006 – 2007:  Anruo Zou

2008 – 2010:  Ze Chong

2011 – 2013:  Shawn Shi/Wenxun Ji (Deputy)

2014 – 2019.3:  Kelly Wang/Lucy Zhou (Art Director)

2019.3-2021.7:  Qiao Yan/Lucy Zhou (Art Director)

2021.7-Present:  Patrick Tse/Jun You (Deputy)

Conductor

2006～Present:  Xingzhong Xia