Recognized as a globally successful violinist, producer and pedagogue, Xiang Gao (“Sean Gow”) has solo performed for many world leaders and with over one hundred orchestras worldwide. As a chamber musician, he has also collaborated with many of the world’s leading chamber musicians and ensembles. As an orchestral player, Mr. Gao was the guest concertmaster of the Honolulu Symphony, Illinois Symphony as well as a core member of the Grand Park Symphony of Chicago. With his uncompromised commitment to promoting cultural understanding and exchange, he is also the founding director of the American pioneering ensemble 6-WIRE that recently performed to a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall-Zankel Hall.

As a composer and arranger, Mr. Gao’s compositions and arrangements have been premiered on the stages of Carnegie Hall and other major concert venues and festivals worldwide. As a curious crossover musician, Mr. Gao also performs in the styles of funk jazz, blue grass, Asian folk, Latin American and world music. As a song writer and producer for musicals, Mr. Gao’s new musical, Shanghai Sonatas, combines musical theatre and live classical music performance. It is based on the memoirs of Jewish classical musicians who escaped Nazi Germany and found refuge in Shanghai during World War II, where they educated the first generation of Chinese classical musicians. Recently, Mr. Gao received the Delaware Governor’s Award in the Arts for his innovative achievements in music presentation, creation and education.

 As the Trustees Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Delaware and a distinguished visiting professor at his alma mater, the University of Michigan, as well as three leading universities in China, Mr. Gao has also been a renowned performing arts administrator since 1997. He is the founding artistic director of the UD Master Players Concert Series, a flagship concert presenting organization in the Mid-Atlantic region. He also founded the UD Master Players International Music Festival, a bi-lingual festival that ran from 2014-2019 on the UD Campus, attracting quality guest artists and students from the United States and Asia. He has also arranged for countless American musicians to visit Asia by producing successful ensembles tours for the UD Chorale and UD Symphony Orchestra, as well as individual faculty concert tours and VIP trips to China for the friends and donors of UD.

In 2004, UD purchased a rare violin made by G.B. Ceruti in 1794 for Mr. Gao to use in his international performing career. He is the recipient of the UD Outstanding Faculty Service Award, and in 2007, the Stradivari Society in Chicago selected Mr. Gao to be a recipient of world-famous Stradivarius violins for his concerts. Mr. Gao is represented by California Artists Management.

Mr. Gao lives in Newark, Delaware, with his wife Dr. Renee Z. Dong, an associate professor of Chinese at UD and a scholar in second language education. The Gaos share their home with their daughter, young violinist Samantha Gao, and their two Tonkinese cats, Luna and Mika. Mr. Gao is honored to have worked with many of today’s talented music students and is a proud member of the Delaware Diamond Society supporting UD.