It is with great excitement that we announce the appointment of Weicheng Zhao as our associate organist-choirmaster, effective September 1. In addition to being a brilliant musician, he is a wonderful human being with a warm and engaging personality.

Born in Tianjin, China, Weicheng began his musical training at the age of five. After receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in 2008, he was appointed a full time faculty member of the Electone Organ at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music. He came to the United States in 2009 to pursue study of the pipe organ with Professor Cherry Rhodes at the University of Southern California. Upon completing the Master of Music degree in organ performance, he received the distinction as the Outstanding Graduate at the master’s level of the entire School of Music. He is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at USC.

Among numerous scholarships and awards, Weicheng was the first prize winner in the 43rd Yamaha International Electronic Organ Competition, first prize winner in the Miami International Organ Competition and the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition. Mr. Zhao received the Second Prize and the Audience Prize in the prestigious Ruth and Clarence Mader National Organ-Playing Competition in 2010 and 2013. He has been organist at St. Bede’s Church in La Cañada since 2012.

I am thrilled to begin working with Weicheng, and we will be blessed at All Saints to welcome into our community his wife, Fang Gao, who is a gifted violinist in the Graduate Certificate program at USC.