English Faculty, Penny (Wenjie) Cui, is a language specialist and a flutist with broad experience of language teaching and music performance in China and the USA. Cui co-founded the Xiaozhuang Meiyue Reading Team and taught English picture book reading for elementary schoolers in Nanjing Jinling Library Rainbow Summer Camp.

As an educator, Cui believes that both language and music are bridges that can connect and share culture，and her teaching prizes each students’ unique cultural identity. Her teaching and curricular development focus on developing students’ communicative competence across academic, social and artistic contexts.

Beyond English teaching, she is also a versatile musician. She is first prize winner of several international competitions. She served as principal flutist of Nanjing Xiaozhuang University Orchestra and substitute principal flutist of Gainesville Flute Choir in Florida. She was also a member of University of Florida Flute Ensemble. She performed in Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Nanjing Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum Music Stage, Tianjin Binhai Library, etc. She performed with renowned artists, including Emmanuel Pahud and He Shengqi. As a certified translator, she has been providing translation services for many well-known international musicians in lectures, concerts and masterclasses.

Born in Wuxi, China, Cui holds a bachelor’s degree in English Education from Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, and a master’ s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from University of Florida. Cui studied flute with Chen Chao, Ding Yading, Kristen Stoner, and Mary Birkner.

Cui serves as the English Faculty at The Tianjin Juilliard School and leads the Pre-College English division.