Guan was born in Kaifeng, and graduated from the China Central Conservatory in 1985.
He has been the director of the China National Symphony Orchestra until 2018 and involved in a number of Chinese national committees working with musicians.
His important works include the operas Sorrowful Dawn and Mulan Psalm, several symphonies, Earth Requiem, a piano concerto, and the Symphonic Overture No.
1 (also known as Symphonic Ballade‘Sorrowful Dawn’),[1] which is very popular in the concerts in China.
He is also famous for composing TV series soundtracks, some of which were orchestrated as concert pieces, including I Love My Family, Fortress Besieged, Little Dragonboy, The Years of Intense Emotion, and Soldiers Sortie.