Doris Simiao Xiao

Violin / Viola

Simiao was born in China, Tianjin. She currently lives in LA. She started playing the violin with Chengfen Wang when she was 4 years old. Later on, until the age of 14, she started her journey at viola, and studied with Yin Pan. Soon after, she studied with Yanming Xu at Tianjin Conservatory. Later on, she decided to explore more on music in the U.S. Simiao came to the U.S when she was 22, and studied viola with Rodney Wirtz and Elizabeth Wilson.

In 2018, Simiao participated in the SnowPond chamber music Seminar festival, had coaching with Jo-Ann Sternberg, Anna Lim and Jacqueline Leclair, and chamber master coaching with Colin Carr. Later in the same year, Simiao joined the music program at UCLA, and studied viola with Che-Yen Chen, and had master class with Anthony Devroye. Meanwhile, she also was a member of UCLA Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2019, she traveled to Paris with her duet, and participated in the Lyon international music academy. Simiao studied viola with international teacher Marcel Stephane, and had chamber coaching with Bernadene Blaha and Kevin Fitz-Gerald. In 2020, Simiao finished her undergraduate at UCLA, and she decided to continue her music journey at CSUN. She joined the graduate music program at CSUN, and studied with Robert Berg. She was also the viola principal at CSUN orchestra.

Now, Simiao is holding UCLA Bachelor of Music Performance and CSUN Master of Music Performance Performance Diploma. She continues her viola journey in different orchestra and chamber groups.