A musical collaboration 15 years in the making

At 12 or 13, she began listening obsessively to heavy metal and wished she could play the electric guitar, scream, and sing like the rock musicians she admired. Instead, she had a cello, and her relationship with music changed after she left home for college.

At 18, she began experimenting with an electric cello, eventually turning the instrument she once saw as a limitation into the distinctive sound that has taken her from concert halls to Hollywood soundtracks and heavy-metal festivals.

Her musical influences remain deliberately wide-ranging. She cites legendary cellist Jacqueline du Pre for her passionate playing, while also naming Marilyn Manson, System of a Down, Metallica, and Guns N' Roses among her formative influences.

"Music can actually be a tool for freedom and expression," Guo says.

That sense of freedom also shapes how she approaches large productions. She rejects the idea that a musician should constantly try to stand out.

In a large ensemble, the musical spotlight should move naturally from one instrument or section to another. Guo says her own moment of personal expression comes during a quieter passage in the show, when she and Bergersen perform together with piano and cello.

Away from the cello, Guo is equally comfortable with synthesizers. One of her favorite pieces in the Beijing program, Illusions, has her playing synthesizer.

For Guo, a little uncertainty is part of the attraction.

That appetite for new experiences has also led her to make a major career decision. After working with composer Hans Zimmer for more than 15 years, she stepped away from the collaboration a little over a year ago to devote more time to her own music.

She is now developing a concept album set in the year 3000, combining electronic music, EDM (electronic dance music), metal, and synthwave, with some songs featuring her vocals.

The decision reflects a broader principle she offers to younger musicians: look inward rather than constantly chasing opportunities.

When composers hire her for major film projects, including Dune and Top Gun: Maverick, she says they often give her a simple instruction: be herself.

Her Beijing performance with Bergersen offered a vivid example of that philosophy. After 15 years of knowing each other, the two musicians did not need elaborate instructions to find their musical connection.

For Bergersen, it was almost as if the years of waiting had simply disappeared.

For Guo, perhaps that is the ultimate freedom of music: not having to choose between worlds, but being able to move naturally between them.