Alumni Spotlight: Peijun (June) Xu (MM ‘19) Music Education, AC Violin and Viola Performance

Peijun (June) Xu was born and raised in China and grew up playing music. At 14 years old, after visiting and performing music concerts in Australia, she was awarded as the China-Australia Cultural Exchange Ambassador.

“That was the first time that I realized the importance of cultural exchange, which helps people of different cultural backgrounds to learn from each other and build connections and communication in the global village where each individual is living,” said June.

June became a Christian at the age of 17 when her violin teacher brought her to a local church to do music worship there. June describes how after becoming a Christian, she felt more joy in cultural exchange because she recognized God's power in connecting people despite differences in language, food, dress, and social behaviors. She graduated as a Tourism Management major in China and worked in the International Travel industry for five years before coming to the United States. She then made the decision to study music full-time in the United States in 2015, which meant she would have to completely change her profession.

At APU, June earned her Master's Degree of Music Education in 2019, Artist Certificate in Violin Performance in 2020, and is expecting to receive an Artist Certificate in Viola Performance in 2022.

Currently, June has partnered with fellow APU alumnae Siqi (Sara) Shi (MM '15) and Yin (Apple) Lin, AC '19 to run MARKER AND PIONEER, which hosts international cultural exchange events based on music performance tours and music education. As a co-founder of MAP, Peijun is committed to connecting music educators and students from different cultural backgrounds by creating and producing these events.

MAP has organized and ran the Los Angeles Young Virtuosos International Music Festival in 2018 (LAYVIMF 2018), the California International Music Festival & Music Education Conference in 2019 (CIMFEC 2019), the APU Faculty Trio China Tour 2019, and the MAP International Music Competition in 2021, which received 1100 applications and 692 selected finalists represented over 66 countries from the global area.

June believes that even as a single individual in this world, each of us has the responsibility to endeavor to contribute our intelligence and energy in building a beautiful home. “Music is a universal language that can easily connect people and build communication,” said June.

*In addition to her work at MARKER AND PIONEER, June apprenticed for the MasterWorks Festival 2020 Program and served as the principal viola at MasterWorks Festival Orchestra 2021. She has won competitions, such as the Charleston International Music Competition and King’s Peak International Music Competition, and has years of experience coaching youth orchestras.

https://markerandpioneer.com/*

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