Founded in 1961 by the Director Emeritus, Tsuan-Nien Chang, The Chinese Music Ensemble of New York has grown from a few music lovers to the oldest and largest Chinese orchestra in the United States. Its present director is Yu-Chiung Teng and its membership of over forty-five members consists of both amateur and professional musicians, who play practically every type of Chinese musical instrument. Recognized as the only full scale Chinese orchestra in the United States, the Ensemble maintains its standard of excellence through a program of musical exchanges with professional musicians in China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. One of the main objectives of The Chinese Music Ensemble is to introduce the music of China to Western audiences. They have performed for audiences at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Town Hall, the Asia Society, the Newport Music Festival and Musikfest. Reviews "This lovingly performed and recorded collection is probably your best introduction to this genre. With its operatic, sometimes nasal style of singing, this is certainly not for all Westerners' tastes , but the mournful, pretty instrumentation may be new tonic for some. These folk songs are presented wonderfully, with traditional Chinese string, wind, and percussion instruments. Serviceable liner notes explain each song's lyrics, making this collection much more comprehensible for neophytes." - New Review