Winter Night: Traces in the Snow Tina Guo & Leo Z

• Leo Z, Traditional:
• 1 Scarborough Fair 03:48
• Traditional:
• 2 Greensleeves 04:08
• Arvo Pärt (b. 1935):
• 3 Silouan's Song 03:45
• Leo Z, Traditional:
• 4 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel 04:07
• Traditional:
• 5 Coventry Carol 03:22
• Total Runtime 19:10

Info for Winter Night: Traces in the Snow

Internationally acclaimed cellist Tina Guo has known and worked with Leo Z for many years, but this is their first full collaboration, made remotely at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Guo says: “I thought, maybe this is actually the perfect opportunity to slow down and make some beautiful, mystical music.”

Despite being physically separated, the two artists enjoyed a smooth virtual collaboration, building up a selection of five songs in dark, evocative arrangements.

“Winter is such a vibe,” says Leo Z – “colors are changing, there’s more darkness during the day. We wanted to capture that type of moment that feels almost frozen in time.”

Tina Guo: “I feel like it does sound cohesive, like we’re in this universe together. I think it’s very metaphysical, very spiritual – we’re in this audio and energetic space together, musically. We just never saw each other in person.”

Tracks on the EP include “Scarborough Fair”, “Greensleeves”, and two ancient Christmas carols: “O come, O come Emmanuel” and the Coventry Carol. Tina Guo and Leo Z also perform their version of Arvo Pärt’s Silouan’s Song. In addition to the cello and piano being featured on the album, Guo plays the erhu, an ancient Chinese instrument, and the musicians are joined by Eric Rigler on traditional Celtic instruments including the Uilleann pipes.

The album is marked by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, bringing listeners together as winter approaches, just as it brought the two artists together in their separate home studios. Tina Guo comments: “Making music again felt a little bit more introspective, a little bit more reflective of what’s happening in our world right now.

Tina Guo, cello, erhu, vocals
Leo Z, piano, bells, vocals, programming

Tina Guo
is an internationally acclaimed and Grammy-nominated virtuoso acoustic/electric cellist, recording artist, and composer. With a multi-faceted career and mastery in a wide range of genres, her passion for musical exploration, artistic expression, and technology are expressed through live performance and visual media. Tina can also be heard as a featured soloist in many Blockbuster Film, Television, and Game scores.

As a classical soloist, Tina's engagements with orchestras around the world include the San Diego Symphony, the State of Mexico National Symphony, the Thessaloniki State Symphony in Greece, the Petrobras Symphony in Brazil, and the Vancouver Island Symphony in British Columbia. She collaborated with violinist Midori Goto in Dvorak's American String Quartet at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and completed four national tours of Mexico and Italy performing the Shostakovich, Dvorak, Haydn, and Saint-Saëns Cello Concertos.

Tina recently appeared with the Tenerife Symphony and Choir performing "Batman: The Dark Knight" Suite at the Tenerife International Film Festival. She was featured at the Krakow Film Music Festival, performing as soloist on music from Vikings, Dexter, Game of Thrones, and Chicago Fire with the Krakow Symphony and Polish Radio Choir. In January 2016, Tina completed an acoustic tour and two sold-out performances at Carnegie Hall with Blues Legend Joe Bonamassa. In 2016, Tina toured as a featured soloist with Hans Zimmer Live, and she will join the group again for the 2017 World Tour.

Tina is featured in commercials for Mazda and United Airlines, and was also a soloist in Cirque Du Soleil's Michael Jackson "The Immortal" World Tour from 2011-2013 performing in sold out arenas around the world. The tour performed to over 3.7 million people and is one of the highest grossing tours of all time. Tina is also featured on the Epic Records release "Immortal," replacing the original guitar solo in "Beat It" with an Electric Cello/Guitar Battle-style duet with guitarist Greg Howe. She performed with Skrillex, Dplo, and Justin Bieber at the 2016 Grammy Awards.

Performing alongside Hans Zimmer at the Premiere of Inception, and at a concert celebrating Kung Fu Panda 2 for Dreamworks with Hans and John Powell- Tina is passionate about soundtracks and the wide range of music and feelings it expresses. She was a featured performer at the League of Legends World Championship at a sold-out Staples Center in Los Angeles and an audience of 33 million streaming online. Tina was featured on the Electric Cello with The Crystal Method, Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Danny Lohner (NIN), Joe Letz (Combichrist), and the Hollywood Scoring Orchestra. She has also been a featured performer at Comic Con, Blizzcon, and with Video Games Live. Tina toured Europe with Guitar Virtuoso Al Di Meola and was the guest soloist in Baroque-Rock group Vivaldianno's "City of Mirrors" Tour appearing throughout Europe.

Tina has been featured as a soloist on the scores of Sherlock Holmes, Iron Man 2, Batman vs Superman, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, The Monkey King 2, Clash of the Titans, Red Riding Hood, Abduction, Olympus Has Fallen, Escape Plan, CSI:NY, Vikings, The Borgias, Sleepy Hollow, Dominion, Iron Chef, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (as Octavia,) Blizzard's Diablo III and Hearthstone, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Revelation Online by Chinese game giant Netease, and Journey, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack. Tina has also recorded for the soundtracks of Inception, Kung Fu Panda 3, Hancock, Battle: Los Angeles, The Hangover Part II, Predators, Fast Five, Arthur, No Strings Attached, Beginners, Public Enemies, Rango, The Rite, X-Men: First Class, Your Highness, Yogi Bear, The Mentalist, Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, King of the Hill, commercials for Apple iPhone, Under Armour, and many others. Tina contributed Electric Cello to the creation of elements that were used to create the sound of the Kaijus in Pacific Rim. Her arrangement and performance of "The Flight of the Bumble-Bee" was featured in the end credits for The Heartbreak Kid. Tina composed music for the feature film Persecuted and has had many compositions licensed into TV and Film projects. The Tina Guo Sample Library by Cinesamples is one of the most popular cello solo libraries available on the market today, used by composers and producers in countless media music projects.

Tina was featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show playing “Beat It,” and also performed at the American Country Music Awards with Carrie Underwood, on Dancing with the Stars with Carlos Santana and India Arie, Jimmy Kimmel Live with Ellie Goulding, the Lopez Show with Far East Movement, the Grammy Awards with the Foo Fighters, at the MTV Movie Awards, on American Idol, with the Battlestar Galactica Orchestra, and with Brazilian guitarist Victor Biglione in a Jimi Hendrix Tribute Concert at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. She has also performed at the Sundance Film Festival, the Playboy Mansion, and has shared the stage with Alicia Keys, The Tenors, Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Josh Groban, John Legend, LeAnn Rhimes, Chris Isaak, Il Divo, Ariana Grande, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Jennifer Hudson, and Michael McDonald. Corporate clients have included Microsoft, Cephalon Biopharmaceutics, Adecco and the PGA. Tina has recorded on hundreds of albums, with artists such as John Legend, Ciara, David Archuleta, and Big K.R.I.T.

Tina's musical education began at the age of 3, when she began her piano studies in Shanghai, China. After coming to America at the age of 5, she began violin lessons with her mother and later began studying the cello under the instruction of her father, Lu-Yan Guo at the age of 7. Tina continued her professional cello studies with Eleonore Schoenfeld at the the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music on full scholarship, and was also a Governor's Scholar for academic excellence.

Tina's Music Video for "Queen Bee" won Best Short Film/Music Video at the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival. Her songs "Queen Bee" and "Forbidden City" are also available for download to play for Rockband on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Metal Hammer Magazine UK described Tina as "an international sensation" and she was also featured in Glamour Magazine Russia with a 2 page spread. Tina was the 2014 Innovation Award Recipient from the Asian Heritage Awards, named "Instrumentalist of the Year" at the 2015 Los Angeles Music Awards, and won in the New Age Category at the 2016 Hollywood Music in Media Awards. She is currently a 2017 Grammy Nominee for Best New Age Album for "Inner Passion" with pianist Peter Kater. An avid writer, her first published work is "Event Horizons of Yin and Yang," a collection of philosophical prose and poetry. Tina holds a Bachelors in Metaphysics.

Tina has also provided music as a Composer and Producer for Mercedes, Call of Duty: Ghosts MTX 4, the Official Launch Trailer for video game ArchAge “A Way Home,” and the Official Trailer for feature film "The Best Offer." Together with her husband, electronic music producer Syleth (Ray Armando Morabito,) their music can be heard on WWE Smackdown, WWE Monday Night Raw, NHL Rivals, Chopped, Mission October on Fox Sports, Inside the PGA Tour, Road to Ferrari, and Against the Odds on the American Heroes Channel. Tina is a passionate supporter of the Academy of Music for the Blind, Partners in Health, Animal Welfare Institute, Homes for our Troops, and Child Find of America. In 2015, she released a Charity album with 13 film/tv/media composer friends called "Tina Guo & Composers for Charity." 100% of the proceeds from the album go directly to Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation in support of music education.

In October 2016, Tina signed an exclusive recording contract with Sony Music and her debut Sony album will be released February 10, 2017.

Tina performs on her Gand & Bernadel Cello made in Paris, France in 1878. On electric cello, she plays a customized Yamaha SVC-210 as a Yamaha Performing Artist. Tina also plays an Erhu made in Shanghai, China.

Tina endorses Larsen Strings, Yamaha, Sennheiser, Focusrite, ENGL Amps, Voodoo Lab Pedals, Coffin Case, Samson, Reunion Blues, Analysis Plus Cables, and Apogee Electronics.

This album contains no booklet.