Cleo Yong is a musicologist, violinist & violist, and teacher based in Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island.
As a musicologist, Cleo has done extensive research on Latin American music and politics. She has written several research papers on topics including nationalism and race in Mexican opera and Mexican music in film. Her research interests include race and gender, exoticism, human rights, and early 20th century Mexican Classical music.
Cleo has performed in as both a soloist and as an ensemble musician in various orchestras and chamber ensembles. She has performed around North America in festivals such as the Festival Internacional de Música in Naolinco, Mexico and the PRISMA Music Festival based in Powell River, Canada.
From 2021-2022, Cleo collaborated with composers from Mexico to compose and perform pieces for solo violin, which form the album 'Maja Bhuta.'
She has been teaching musicians of all ages and abilities as a private teacher as well as in orchestral sectionals since 2015, using the Suzuki method and the Royal Conservatory of Music.
In 2022, Cleo completed her Bachelor of Music degree with a minor in English Literature from the University of Victoria. She studied violin and viola under the supervision of Sharon Stanis, Joanna Hood, and the Lafayette String Quartet.
In 2024, Cleo completed her MA in Musicology at the University of Victoria. Her research focussed on nationalism in La Mulata de Córdoba (1948) by José Pablo Moncayo. Cleo studied musicology under the supervision of Dr. Maria Virginia Acuña and Dr. Alexis Luko.
Cleo is also currently studying Political Science at the University of Victoria and is working as a violin and viola teacher in Greater Victoria.