About Us

Reverie Youth Chinese Orchestra 築夢青少年國樂團​, located in Irvine, California, is a symphony orchestra of young musicians from 7 to 18 years old playing traditional Chinese musical instruments. We are the first and only Chinese instrument youth orchestra in Southern California. Our diverse repertoire is an exciting crossover of Chinese and Western classic, folk, and pop music played on traditional Chinese instruments. Audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and tastes love our music.

Reverie Youth Chinese Orchestra 築夢青少年國樂團​ is all acoustic and, where possible, also unamplified. This allows the audience to experience the pure essence and feeling of the music without embellishments and recorded background music.

​​Our Music Director, Mr. Yunhe Liang, is an accomplished performer, composer, and educator of both Western and Chinese music. Our director custom arranges the performance music for each orchestra member based on the instrument played and skill level of the orchestra member so that the full orchestra can perform with stylistic integrity, as well as melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic accuracy.

We have performed throughout California at historic and iconic venues such as Huntington Library, Soka University’s Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, Chapman University's Memorial Hall, Disneyland Resort, Universal Studios, the Segerstrom Center for the Art's Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and Argyros Plaza, South Coast Plaza, Bowers Museum, Laguna Woods Village, Knott's Berry Farm, Newport Beach Public Library, Irvine Global Village Festival, Irvine Valley College, Irvine City Council, Asian Pacific Festival, Irvine Winter Wonderland, Lakeview Senior Center, the Ontario Museum of Art and History, Irvine City Hall, Tustin Tiller Days, the New Life Christian Center, Wellington Senior Center in Laguna Woods, among other places and have always been a big hit with the audiences of all ages. Our Orchestra's first public concert was at UC Irvine's Winifred Smith Concert Hall in September 2018. Our orchestra has been featured in numerous local and international TV shows and newspapers.

Every one of our performances is an original. Because our performances are live, all acoustic, dynamically conducted, with members and instruments that vary between performances, no two performances are the same. Each performance is guaranteed to be fresh and exciting.

Our orchestra was founded in 2015 as A Little Dynasty Chinese School's Children's Chinese Orchestra. In 2024, our orchestra changed its name to Reverie Youth Chinese Orchestra as we are no longer affiliated with A Little Dynasty Chinese School. Our orchestra is now part of the Taiwan Arts and Culture Society of America, Inc., a nonprofit organization, that is a strong supporter of our local community and participate in many volunteer performances at libraries, schools, senior centers, community celebrations, and music and arts festivals to help enrich the cultural lives of the community. Members of the orchestra are eligible to earn The President’s Volunteer Service Award to honor the positive impact they make in our community.

Yunhe Liang

Music Director

Yihan Chen

Teacher

Zhiming Su

Teacher

Jiali Yi

Teacher

Our Teachers

Our music teachers are no ordinary music teachers. They are renowned musicians, composers, and recording artists who studied under prominent masters at the most elite conservatories. They perform at world class venues such as the Lincoln Center in New York and have composed scores and soundtracks for major entertainment concerns including the Walt Disney Company. Our music teachers have performed with major orchestras in the United States, China, Philippines, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, among other places.

Our music teachers are also expert educators who are members of the California Music Teachers Association and have decades of teaching experience including authoring popular music textbooks. Their intimate knowledge and expertise of both Western and Chinese music and instruments give them the unique ability to synthesize Chinese and Western music systems which serves to broaden the musical horizons of our students.

All of our amazing music teachers began their musical journeys as young children. After achieving personal and professional success, these musicians now devote themselves to teaching our students for the purpose of passing on the heritage and knowledge of traditional Chinese instruments and music, as well as a passion for music itself, to a new generation, just like themselves when they were young.

Yunhe Liang – Music Director

Mr. Yunhe Liang is an award winning musician, conductor, and composer. He has performed on stage and television since age 10 at venues including the LA Music Center and the Hollywood Bowl. Mr. Liang composed and performed the erhu theme music for Shanghai Disneyland. Mr. Liang is a graduate of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

Yihan Chen

Ms. Chen is an award winning musician of plucked string instruments with a specialty in the pipa. She has performed internationally in China, USA, France, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Italy at leading venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress.  After graduating from the China Conservatory of Music in 1995, Ms. Chen taught pipa at its affiliated middle school.

Zhiming Shu

Mr. Zhiming Shu is a theatre musician whose work has been featured in numerous stage productions and television shows including Shanghai Yue operas. He has performed live at venues including the Lincoln Center in New York. Mr. Shu is a graduate of the music department of the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Jiale Yi

Ms. Jiale Yi is a recording artist and director of the Chinese Dulcimer Association. Her work has appeared in numerous television shows and music CDs. Ms. Yi is a graduate of the Tianjin Conservatory of Music and has studied at the Central Conservatory of Music.