Bei Bei Monter

Bei Bei (Bei Bei Monter, Bei Bei He) is one of world’s premier guzheng musicians. The Guzheng is over 2,500 years old and belongs to the asian long zither family, and was used in both folk and court music in ancient China. Born in Chengdu, China, Bei Bei fell in love with the large 21-stringed instrument at first sight, and began playing at age seven. Passionate about music and sure that her calling was to become a professional musician, Bei Bei majored in guzheng at the Central University of Nationalities in Beijing. She also went on to study at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under several guzheng masters such as Li-Jing Sha, Mu-Lan Hai, Chun-Jiang Teng, and Ling-Zi Xu. After moving to Los Angeles, California, she further studied music recording at Azusa Pacific University, Citrus College and jazz performance at Fullerton College.

As a performing artist and composer, Bei Bei roots her art in classical music and expands into other styles, combining new with old into creative new expressions.  This is heard especially in her collaborations with musicians from different genres such as funk, jazz, pop, electronica, hip-hop, and dance.

She released her debut album “Quiet Your Mind And Listen” in 2006 and her collaborative album “Heart of China” (Universal Music), with Richard Horowtiz, in 2008.  In 2009 Bei Bei started collaborating with England’s prolific producer / musician Shawn Lee.  The team has released two albums –  “Into The Wind” (Ubiquity Records) in 2010, and “Year of The Funky” (Légère Recordings) in 2017.

As a studio musician, she recorded for the Disney movie “Mulan”(2020) original soundtrack as well as its powerful hit song “Loyal Brave True” sung by Christina Aguilera.  She also premiered this song with Christina Aguilera at the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show on March 10, 2020. Other movie/TV soundtracks she recorded for include “Turning Red” (Disney-Pixar 2022), Kungfu Panda 4 (Dreamworks 2024), the hit Sci-fi Channel series “Battlestar Galactica” and iMax movie “Mysteries of Ancient China”. She also recorded for many video games such as “The League of Legends”, “Revelation” (天谕), “Moonlight Blade” (天涯明月刀), “Honor of Kings” and “Age of Empire”. She recorded for singer / song writers such as San.Drine, Jessica Fichot, Karoline Kausted, Emma Ejwertz and Summer Jike Junyi. She has worked with multiple Hollywood film and TV composers such as Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Willams, Neal Acree, Sam Cardon, George Shaw and Bear McCreary.

As a composer, she composed and recorded for China Central TV documentary series “Dun Huang” (敦煌) and the movie “Copy Cat”（盗版猫). She collaborated with Hip Hop and R&B producer Fingazz for the Canon web promo video “Tiger’s Heart”. She also worked with Alan Burner combining live music with color choreography.  She worked with dancers/ choreographers such as Mandarin Wu and Yaya Zhang. Her dance music works include “Dancing Dream,” “Four Seasons”, and “The Han Palace Improv.” 


Bei Bei co-composed most of the music in her albums such as “Into The Wind” and “Year of The Funky.” Her most recent compositions include “Rhapsody Of Water and Fire” that she co-composed with Adam Giberti for the guzheng and symphony orchestra.


Bei Bei’s live performance projects include The Bei Bei Ensemble – a contemporary fusion band, Vivid China Ensemble – a traditional Chinese music ensemble, as well as a fusion duo with guitarist Jon Monter. She was the member of the Orchid Ensemble from 2008 to 2009. She has performed at a number of notable venues such as the Barclay Theater (Irvine), The Grove (West Hollywood), The Carpenter Theater (Cal State Long Beach), National Arts Center of Ottowa, Amoeba Records (Hollywood), Union Station (Los Angeles), Sergerstrom Center for the Arts (Costa Mesa), Knitting Factory (Hollywood), Illinois Wesleyan University, Gustavus Adolphus College, Cal State San Macros, UCLA, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Bowers Museum (Santa Ana), Shanghai National Convention Center, The Popoli Pop Cult Festival in Italy, and the MGM Grand Garden Arena (Las Vegas).  She was also featured as a guest soloist performing with UC Irvine Symphony orchestra, UCLA Game Music Ensemble and the Pacific Symphony. She has worked with world-renowned conductors such as Carl St. Clair and Steven Tucker.
Bei Bei’s multiple performance videos on Youtube have been viewed over 12 million times in total. Her fans are all over the world.

Eager to share her knowledge of music and skill in guzheng with the world, Bei Bei is both an author of guzheng instructional texts and a teacher of this classical Chinese instrument. She is the author of “Gu Zheng Sessions” and “Bei Bei’s Easiest Guzheng Course.” In 2011, Bei Bei and her music “Hot Thursday” were included in the college textbook “World Music” by Michael Bakan. Currently, she is the director of her own music school – Lotus Bud GuZheng Academy and instructor at OC Music and Dance in Irivne, CA.

Recently Bei Bei’s music and performances have crossed over to commercial work featured on screen and internet platforms.  In the summer of 2017, Bei Bei performed as Guzheng master in a major international ad campaign for a top telecommunication company.

In the winter of 2018 Bei Bei was cast in the Geico Renters Insurance commercial “Soothing Sounds At The Office”. Also in early 2019  She landed a role in the Taco Bell “Go-Getters” national ad campaign.  These commercial roles allowed her to become a member of SAG-AFTRA.

Bei Bei is a multi-award winner of many national and international competitions such as the 1993 National Chinese Instruments Competition, the 1999 College Students Art Festival in Beijing, and the 1st Dragon Cup International GuZheng Competition in 2001, and most recently, “Best Instrumentalist” of the 2021 InterContinental Music Awards (ICMA).

Bei Bei was featured as one of the “Most Fascinating People in Los Angeles” on the LA Weekly’s “People’s Issue 2015”.
Bei Bei has introduced American and International audiences to the Guzheng with high acclaim.  She says her greatest reward is when her passion for the instrument and the beauty of her music touch people across the world.