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Musicus Fest 2019 - Festival Opening
21 Nov 2019 (Thu) 8:00pm
Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
$600, $450, $320, $180
Duration of the concert is approximately 70 minutes without intermission.
For ages 6 and above.
A 15% Advance Booking discount will be applied to standard-priced tickets purchased on or before 30 September.
50% off for Senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minder, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients. Available on a first-come-first-served basis.
For each purchase of Musicus Fest 2019 concerts (excluding concert on 22.11.2019), 10% off for any 2 or more concerts.
For each purchase of standard tickets, 10% off for 10 tickets or more for each concert.
Patrons can enjoy only one of the above discount schemes for each purchase
Tickets are now available at URBTIX.
Booking Hotline: 2111 5999
Internet Booking: www.urbtix.hk
Ticketing Enquiry: 3761 6661
Program Enquiry: 3974 6601
Trey Lee
Artistic director / Cello
Johannes Klumpp
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra
A Class Act by Quintessential German Ensemble and Star Soloists
Updates: The program has been updated as below. Pianist Dejan Lazić will not perform in this concert.
Founded by the legendary Karl Müchinger in 1945, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (SKO) has maintained its prominent position for over seven decades. A recipient of the 2008 European Chamber Music Prize, the SKO has been a pioneering cultural ambassador, including being the first German orchestra to perform in post-war Paris and in China in the late 1970s. The SKO also boasts a glorious history as one of the most recorded chamber orchestras. Under the leadership of Dennis Russell Davies, the SKO has released the critically-acclaimed live recordings of all 107 symphonies by Haydn.
In this concert, the SKO will be pitting the poise of Mozart's Divertimento in F against the abandon of Liszt's ever-popular Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. The ensemble will be joined by ECHO KLASSIK Award winner Dejan Lazić, as well as Artistic Director and world-renowned cellist Trey Lee. Described as "a concerto of a peculiar kind", Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 14 was a milestone in the guise of an understated gem. Written some eighty years apart, Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme clearly resonates the graceful yet occasionally dramatic style epitomized by Mozart, which ties into the classy, old-world charm of the rest of the program.
Principal Sponsor : CITIC TELECOM CPC
Acknowledgement : Leisure and Cultural Service Department
The presenter reserves the right to change the program and substitute artists should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary. The content of this program does not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Concert Program
Divertimento in F, K. 138
Cello Concerto No. 1 in C, Hob. VIIb/1
Eine kleine Nachtmusik in G, K. 525
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (version for strings)
Click here to view the house program
Copyright©2020 Musicus Society. All Rights Reserved.
Musicus Society is financially supported by the Art Development Matching Grants Scheme of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Rachel Cheung
Winner of the Audience Award and finalist at the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Young Steinway Artist Rachel Cheung has been described as "a poet, but also a dramatist" and praised for "the most sophisticated and compelling music-making" (Dallas Morning News). She won the Fifth Prize at the 2009 Leeds International Piano Competition aged 17. A year later, in 2010, she was a semifinalist at the 16th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
Cheung has appeared in many prestigious music festivals including the Ninth Musical Olympus International Festival in Russia, The International Chopin Festival in Poland, Virtuosos of Planet 2006 in Kiev, The Festival Transeuropéennes in Rouen, Miami International Piano Festival, Golandsky Institute International Piano Festival, Sun Valley International Piano Festival in the USA and Musicus Fest in Finland in 2017. She has also performed at the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, the Steinway Hall in London, the Richmond Hill Centre for Performing Arts in Toronto and the Philharmonie de Paris.
As an active chamber musician, Cheung has worked with world-renowned musicians such as Vladimir Mendelssohn, Dong-Suk Kang, Jan-Erik Gustafasson, Ning Feng, Trey Lee, Latica Honda-Rosenberg, Jens Peter Maintz, Virpi Räisänen, Jian Wang, Michel Lethiec, Bruno Canino, the Brentano String Quartet and Quatuor Leonis.
Cheung has collaborated with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra with Edo de Waart, the Hallé Orchestra with Sir Mark Elder, the Sydney Symphony with Vladimir Ashkenazy, the NYCA Symphony Orchestra with Eduard Zilberkant, the London Chamber Orchestra with Christopher Warren-Green and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin and Nicholas McGegan. Recently, Cheung directed and played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris at the Play-Direct Academy led by Stephen Kovacevich, where she was also awarded the Prix du Jury at the closing concert.
Highlights of the 2018/19 season include her Carnegie Weill Hall recital in March, recitals in Mexico, Poland, Italy, the UK, and the US, as well as concerto performances with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and Gábor Takács-Nagy as well as the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra with Jaap van Zweden.
"A marvelous protagonist…superb cellist" – Lorin Maazel
Hailed a "Miracle" by Gramophone, Trey Lee's concerto debut at Carnegie Hall won him a standing ovation, with The New York Times declaring him "the excellent cellist… with enveloping richness and lyrical sensitivity".
Lee works with esteemed conductors, composers and orchestras worldwide, such as Lorin Maazel, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Leonard Slatkin, Mikko Franck, Vassily Sinaisky, Juanjo Mena, Yuri Bashmet, Hannu Lintu, Bright Sheng, Philharmonic Orchestra Radio France, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Soloists, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Northern Sinfonia, the Munich and Romanian Radio chamber orchestras, among others. He appears often at major venues and festivals around the world, including the United Nations, Teatro dal Verme Milan, Beijing National Centre for Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Kuhmo, Banff, Marlboro, Seoul Spring, and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. On stage, Lee partners with many of today's most sought-after stars such as Julia Fischer, Vilde Frang, Pekka Kuusisto and Alexander Sitkovetsky.
As the first Asian winner of the prestigious International Antonio Janigro Cello Competition, Lee has been featured in Financial Times, on CNN and China's national television CCTV, and Radio Television Hong Kong's award-winning documentary series "Outstanding Young Chinese Musicians". Italy's Il Corriere Della Sera heralded Lee as one of China's four classical music "Golden Boys & Girls" alongside pianists Lang Lang, Yundi Li and Yuja Wang.
Lee has released several albums under EMI which topped the classical charts. Under the direction of composer Wang Liping, The Dream of the Red Chamber Capriccio was premiered in 2017 with Detroit Symphony and Maestro Leonard Slatkin on the orchestra's first historic tour to China.
A co-founder and Artistic Director of Musicus Society, Lee established the groundbreaking Musicus Fest in 2013. Since being appointed an ambassador of UNICEF HK in 2012, Lee has traveled on their behalf to promote children's rights, and in 2014 was joined on stage at the United Nations General Assembly Hall by Yoko Ono, Hugh Jackman, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Angelique Kidjo among others to launch The IMAGINE Project. In 2017, he performed for China's President Xi Jinping at a live CCTV global broadcast to over 1 billion viewers at the 20thAnniversary Gala of Hong Kong's return to China.
Lee plays on the 1703 "Comte de Gabriac" cello by Venetian master maker Matteo Goffriller.
www.trey-lee.com
Tapiola Sinfonietta
"…No matter how high your expectations are, these players will always outperform them. There is no such a thing as disappointment with these artists…" – Bachtrack
Since being founded in 1987, the Tapiola Sinfonietta has achieved world fame particularly for its mastery of the Viennese Classical repertoire. The orchestra has a unique structure – the artistic planning is in the hands of a team of three consisting of the General Manager and two musicians, in the spirit of modern, shared leadership, guided by joy, artistry and commitment. The orchestra has three Artists-in-Association at a time, each adding his or her own special edge to the artistic policy. In this spirit, the orchestra has collaborated with top conductors and artists from Finland and abroad, namely Hannu Lintu, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Masaaki Suzuki, Isabelle Faust, Stefan Jackiw, Steven Isserlis and Olli Mustonen.
The continuous development of this alliance of 41 orchestra players has also been heightened by co-productions with top artists in the fields of drama, dance, circus, jazz and popular music. Members of the orchestra also appear as soloists and chamber musicians and play in Baroque, jazz and folk ensembles.
The Tapiola Sinfonietta has a discography of more than 60 titles on the BIS, Ondine and Naxos labels, many of which have received critical acclaim. Its recording of Magnus Lindberg's Violin Concerto with violinist Pekka Kuusisto in 2014 was chosen by French music magazine Classica as the Choc de l'Année (Record of the Year); its Anna Liisa (2015) opera recording in 2015 with director Jan Söderblom was Editor's Choice in Grammophone and HelsinginSanomat (the main newspaper in Finland).
The orchestra acts as an ambassador of Finnish culture on its tours to Asia and Central Europe.
Colleen Lee
Since winning the 6th Prize at the 15th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition, Colleen Lee has performed extensively throughout Asia, Europe and North America in solo recitals and with orchestras such as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Galacia Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Hong Kong Philharmonic, among others. Lee was the Artist Associate of Hong Kong Sinfonietta in 2010/2011, and has toured with the orchestra in South America, Italy and Taiwan. Lee has just given her critically acclaimed début with London Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle in September 2019.
Lee has also been a featured artist at several international music festivals including the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki and Gdansk in Poland, Assisi International Piano Festival in Italy, Meissen Pianoforte Festival in Germany, International Keyboard Festival in New York, Bowdoin International Music Festival and Musicus Fest in Espoo, Finland.
As an enthusiastic chamber musician, Lee frequently appears in chamber music concerts and has also collaborated with world famous instrumentalists including violinists Ning Feng and Dong-Suk Kang, cellists Trey Lee, Daniel Müller-Schott and Alexander Kniazev, and the Shanghai Quartet. She is also a member of the RTHK Chamber Soloists which was formed in 2018. Lee's discography includes an all Chopin album released by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, and a complete edition of Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas.
In recognition of her outstanding achievements in music and in the promotion of arts and culture, Lee has been awarded Certificate of Commendation by the Secretary of Home Affairs, Commendation for Community Service by the Hong Kong Government and Young Artist Award by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. Lee is currently Honorary-Artist-in-Residence of The Education University of Hong Kong and serves as faculty member at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Hong Kong Baptist University.
Tapiola Sinfonietta String Quartet
The Tapiola Sinfonietta has a discography of more than 60 titles on the BIS, Ondine and Naxos labels, many of which have received critical acclaim. Its recording of Magnus Lindberg's Violin Concerto with violinist Pekka Kuusisto in 2014 was chosen by French music magazine Classica as the Choc de l'Année (Record of the Year); its Anna Liisa (2015) opera recording in 2015 with director Jan Söderblom was Editor's Choice in Grammophone and Helsingin Sanomat (the main newspaper in Finland).
Chan Wan-in
Chan Wan-in was born in Hong Kong and started learning the pipa at the age of 7. She is pursuing her Bachelor of Music degree at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under Yuan Yue and Zhang Ying. She is also minoring in zheng under Chin King. She was the winner of The Second Chinese Musical Instruments Competition organised by the National Philharmonic Society of Guangdong province. She also received the HSBC HKAPA Mainland China Study Programme Scholarships to advance her study under Ren Hong. She is also a member of the Academy Chinese Orchestra.
Eva Wong Hiu-ching
Eva Wong Hiu-ching was born in Hong Kong and started learning music at the age of 6. She completed her Bachelor of Music degree study in 2016, majoring in erhu and banhu with the support from the HKSAR Government Scholarships Fund. She is now a visiting student majoring in gaohu at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She has received various prizes at competitions in Hong Kong and China. At the age of 16, Wong won the first prizes of erhu, banhu and gaohu in all categories at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. She is also a member of the Academy Chinese Orchestra.
Yue Kin-long
Yue Kin-long was born in Hong Kong and started learning the sheng at the age of 9 under Loo Sze-wang. He is now pursuing his Advanced Diploma at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under Cheng Tak-wai. He is also minoring in Chinese Percussion under Yim Hok-man. He is the recipient of the HKSAR Government Scholarships Fund and HSBC HKAPA Mainland China Study Programme Scholarships. He has participated in the masterclass with sheng master Weng Zhenfa. He is also a member of the Academy Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Youth Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Taoist Orchestra, Hong Kong YWCA Chinese Orchestra and John Chen Ensemble.
Zeng Baoxin
Zeng Baoxin was born in Guanzhou, China and started learning the dizi at the age of 9 under famous dizi soloist Gan Shao-hua and Zhang Fan. She is now pursuing her Advanced Diploma at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with full scholarships under Sun Yongzhi, Dizi Principal of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. Zeng was the champion of the Shunde Ming Ri Zhi Xing Competition and the first runner-up of the Chinese Music Instrument Competition in Foshan, Guangdong province in China. Zeng is the recipient of The Society of APA Non-Local Scholarships. She is also a member of the Academy Chinese Orchestra.
Jeff Leung
Jeff Leung graduated from Hong Kong Baptist University, majoring in Music Composition under Dr. Christopher Coleman. He has composed a wide variety of music including traditional orchestral works, contemporary works and pop music. He was the music director and composer of several local musicals such as Footloose, and his film scoring work Last Thing I Remember participated in the 2012 Cannes Short Film Corner.
Jeff is currently studying orchestral conducting with Francis Kan, the conductor of Macao Orchestra. He also studies conducting in Hong Kong Baptist University with Dr. John Winzenburg. He is the assistant conductor and guest viola principal of the Union Philharmonic Orchestra at the University of Hong Kong.
Denise Mei Yan Hofmann
Denise Mei Yan Hofmann started playing guitar at 10, but only decided to pursue music seriously after graduating from Middlebury College in 2011.
She received her M.M. from Mannes College of Music in New York and her music has been played at the National Opera Center, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, The Spectrum and Mannes College of Music, the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore, HellHOT Music Festival in Hong Kong and the International Dance Festival in Bangkok .
Hofmann arranged the jazz standard Georgia On My Mind for the Johnny Rodgers Band, which was performed by the Moscow Symphony string section in June 2013 and she also wrote the incidental music for the New York production of Harriman-Baines& at the Theatre for the New City. In 2014 she was commissioned by the Hong Kong Composers' Guild to compose a trio for 'SOUND-IMAGination: Hong Kong Postcards', which premiered in December of the same year at the Hong Kong Arts Centre.
In 2016, she was awarded residency at the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts and received the Mannes College Dean's Award.
Janne Nisonen
Janne Nisonen is one of Finland's most versatile musicians, performing as a conductor, leader, violin soloist and chamber musician.
He began his violin studies at the Central Ostrobothnia Conservatory and went on to study at the Edsberg Chamber Music Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He studied orchestra conducting with Hannu Lintu and Atso Almila at the Sibelius Academy.
In addition to the Tapiola Sinfonietta, Nisonen has conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra. He took up the post of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Pori City Orchestra in the autumn of 2016.
Nisonen has been the first leader of the Tapiola Sinfonietta since 2007 and has appeared as guest leader with several European orchestras. He has made numerous recordings for radio and has performed at many music festivals.
Nisonen plays a Nicolo Gagliano violin from 1751, on loan from the Lähi Tapiola insurance company.
Described by The Telegraph as a musician "who surely has the most personal sound of any classical violinist now alive", Pekka Kuusisto is internationally renowned for his fresh approach to the repertoire. An advocate of new music, Kuusisto regularly works with composers such as Nico Muhly and Thomas Adès and gave the world premiere of Sebastian Fagerlund's Violin Concerto.
Kuusisto is widely recognised for his flair in directing ensembles from the violin. From January 2016 he has become Artistic Director of ACO Collective – a string ensemble which connects the musicians of the Australian Chamber Orchestra with Australia's most talented young professional musicians to deliver innovative projects across the country – and following a longstanding creative collaboration with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, he takes on the role of Artistic Partner with the ensemble from 2016/17.
Kuusisto has collaborated with the Scottish Chamber, City of Birmingham Symphony and Toronto Symphony orchestras and the Bamberger Symphoniker. As soloist, he has appeared in concerts with the Seattle and BBC Scottish symphony orchestras, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig and Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia. A keen chamber musician, his regular partners include Anne Sofie von Otter, Simon Crawford-Phillips, Nicolas Altstaedt, Alexander Lonquich and Olli Mustonen.
In 2013, Kuusisto was the recipient of the Nordic Council Music Prize, with judges describing him as "a violinist in the absolute elite".
Cherry Tsang
Pianist Dr. Cherry Tsang has performed solo recitals and chamber music throughout Europe, Asia, and America, where she made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2009. Recent solo performances include the LCSD's "Our Music Talent" series Solo Recital.
As a dedicated chamber musician, Tsang recently performed at the Wooster Chamber Music Series (Ohio, USA), Hong Kong Citibank Plaza Series, Sanibel Music Festival (Florida, USA), and at venues such as Kneisel Hall, New York University, Symphony Space and the Miller Theatre at Columbia University. Tsang has also worked with many international artists including James Thompson, Michel Arrignon, Florent Héau, Jane Rutter and Piotr Milewski.
Tsang received her Doctorate in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music. In addition to her performance schedule, Tsang is also a piano adjunct lecturer at the Hong Kong Baptist University, and teaches chamber music to undergraduate and graduate students at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Vladimir Mendelssohn
The descendant of a prominent musical family, Vladimir Mendelssohn has appeared throughout the world as a soloist, chamber musician, composer and arranger. He has made numerous recordings for a variety of labels and is constantly in great demand at countless international festivals, performing with the world's finest musicians.
Mendelssohn's engagements have taken him to the US, almost every country in Europe, as well as to Russia, Israel, Tunisia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and South America. He has performed in renowned concert halls such as New York's Carnegie Hall, Paris' Théâtre des Champs Elysées and Salle Gaveau, Berliner Philharmonie, Munich's Herculessaal, London's Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Hall, Vienna's Musikverein, Moscow Conservatory, Zurich's Tonhalle, and Philharmonie Bucharest. A prolific composer, he has produced works for solo instruments, mixed choir, chamber music, symphony and chamber orchestra. He has also composed music for ballet, stage and screen.
Since 2005, Mendelssohn has assumed the role of Artistic Director at the celebrated Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland. Mendelssohn was a professor of chamber music at the Paris Conservatoire until 2015. He has also been teaching at The Hague, Essen and Bologna and gives master classes the world over.
Mendelssohn has been a regular guest artist of Musicus Society since 2013. His performances at Musicus Fest and Musicus Heritage concerts were met with enthusiastic reception.
Paavali Jumppanen
Paavali Jumppanen is an internationally renowned pianist, a versatile performer equally as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, and a recitalist. His vast repertoire spans piano literature from Bach to the avant-garde. He has worked with numerous contemporary composers and premiered many solo piano and chamber works. His collaborations with esteemed composers including Pierre Boulez, William Duckworth, and Henri Dutilleux as well as composers of his native Finland – among them Perttu Haapanen and Lauri Kilpiö – have opened for him a broad perspective into the dynamic nature of new music.
Jumppanen has toured extensively in the United States, Europe, Japan, and Australia, appearing with the Melbourne Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra as well as at numerous festivals including Finland's Kuhmo Chamber Music festival and the La Roqued'Anthéron Festival in France.
Jumppanen attended at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and later worked with Krystian Zimerman at the Basel Music Academy in Switzerland where he also studied organ, fortepiano, and clavichord. Russian-born pianist Konstantin Bogino has remained an important mentor throughout his studies and career.
In recent years Jumppanen has dedicated much of his time to performing complete cycles of Beethoven and Mozart piano sonatas, as well as playing all the Beethoven piano concertos and chamber sonatas. Of one Beethoven recital, The Boston Globe reported how "the sheer, overflowing energy of his musicianship held one's attention throughout this impressive performance and the result was a bracing and enjoyable reminder of how path-breaking Beethoven's music was".
Jumppanen has an expanding discography which includes "the best recorded disc of Boulez's piano music so far" (The Guardian, about the three sonatas recording made upon the composer's request) and the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas, released by Ondine between 2014 and 2016. Jumppanen spent the 2011/12 season as a visiting scholar in Harvard University's Music Department studying musicology and theory to deepen his immersion in Viennese 18th century music.
Louise Kwong
Louise Kwong has won prizes at numerous singing competitions. She won the Second, Audience and Best Soprano prizes at the 18th International Singing Competition "Ferruccio Tagliavini" in Austria; First Prizes at the Singing Competition Saliced'oro and the Singing Competition Città di Iseo in Italy; and Second Prize at the 7th International Singing Competition Bell'arte in Belgium.
Kwong graduated from the Dutch National Opera Academy, the Conservatory of Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the Royal College of Music, London. Her operatic roles include Cio-cio-san in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen, Liù in Puccini's Turandot, Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, Anna in Donizetti's Anna Bolena, La Contessa in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte.
Locally, Kwong's achievements were recognized by the Hong Kong SAR Government with the Young Artist Award in Music (2014) and in the Commendatory Scheme of the Secretary for Home Affairs (2015). She has been invited to perform in several music festivals, including the Hong Kong Arts Festival where she took the roles of Xiao Hong in the opera Heart of Coral, Tong-bi Kang in the opera Datong, and the Grachtenfestival Amsterdam where she performed the role of Fiordiligi in the opera Cosi fan tutte.
Born Lau
Praised for his "immaculately refined" playing (The Philadelphia Inquirer), violist Born Lau has appeared internationally both as a soloist and chamber musician. A prizewinner of the Primrose International Viola Competition and the Astral National Auditions, he enjoys a career spanning three continents. Lau has made regular appearances at concerts by Musicus Society and performed at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland.
Career highlights include performances as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and Trondheim Soloists, performance at the Henry A. Kissinger Prize ceremony in Berlin, and a concert with the esteemed Tokyo String Quartet in Los Angeles. Lau has served as Principal Violist of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, as well as Guest Principal Violist of San Diego Symphony and Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra.
Lau received his education from the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Colburn Conservatory of Music. He has studied with viola teachers including Roberto Diaz, Paul Coletti and Richard Fleischman. Chamber music studies with members of the Emerson, Guarneri and Tokyo String Quartets.
As an educator, Lau has given viola master classes throughout the world, including the Royal Academy of Music, Soochow University, the New World School of the Arts, Washington Conservatory of Music and Hong Kong Baptist University. He has recently been appointed as the Professor of Viola at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
Rocco Filippini
Rocco Filippini began his musical training at an early age. In 1964, after his musical studies with Pierre Fournier and Professor Franz Walter at the Geneva Conservatory, he won the International Competition in Geneva, which immediately opened the way to his career.
In 1968 Filippini founded the Trio di Milano (with Bruno Canino and Cesare Ferraresi, then succeeded by Mariana Sirbu, leader of I Musici) and more recently the Quartetto Accardo. He also regularly plays with pianist Michele Campanella. In the last few years, he has devoted himself to conducting.
Filippini has performed in hundreds of concerts around the world, in the most prestigious concert halls (La Scala, Albert Hall, Festival Hall, Théatre des Champs Élysées, the Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, Munich Herkules Saal, Concertgebouw, Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House) as well as at famous festivals such as Lucerne, Spoleto, Marlboro (where he was invited many times by pianist Rudolf Serkin), Edinburgh, Stresa, Pesaro, Salzburg (where he performed with Maurizio Pollini), Ravenna, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Helsinki. He also dedicates a great deal of time to recording. Major contemporary composers have dedicated their works to him, including Luciano Berio, Franco Donatoni and Salvatore Sciarrino.
Filippini is also a dedicated pedagogue – an elected member of the prominent Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Professor Emeritus at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano, member of the Prague Mozart Academy directed by Sandor Vegh, he has instituted courses of the Accademia Stauffer at Cremona with Salvatore Accardo, Bruno Giuranna and Franco Petracchi, and has held a great number of master classes at Hindemith Foundation in Blonay, Banff University, Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditerranée, Aix-en-Provence, Sermoneta, Città di Castello, among others.
In 1997, he has been awarded by the Foundation of The Swiss Italian Bank for his contributions made to the development of the cultural relations between Switzerland and Italy.
His violoncello is the "Gore Booth" of Antonio Stradivari (1710).
Hippocrates Cheng
Hippocrates Cheng is currently an award-winning master music composition student at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with a full scholarship from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund. His works have been performed around the world in Vienna, Mexico, Australia and elsewhere.
In 2016, his Fragment for a mixed ensemble of 20 musicians was selected by Ablaze Records for their new SINFONIA Series CD album. And his Gather and Scatter for Chinese orchestra was selected to be performed by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in their Music from the Heart 2016 concert. His Clamor for saxophone octet won third prize in the New Generation 2016 contest organized by the Hong Kong Composers' Guild and RTHK.
Recently, Cheng's Fission for flute, clarinet and piano was selected by the Ensemble Chromoson and Austrian Hong Kong Composers Connection and was performed in the Hong Kong Vienna Music Festival in Vienna. His evocative piece Time and Earth was selected and broadcast by MUSLAB.
Cheng is also a pianist, violist and overtone singer.
Wei Ningyi
Fourth Prize winner of the Canetti International Violin Competition in Turkey and First Prize winner of the 1st Schoenfeld International String Competition (Chamber Music Division), Wei Ningyi is a young musician of exceptional depth and quality.
Wei began studying the violin at the age of five. He was admitted to the Affiliated Middle School of Xinghai Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Prof. Xu Yue in 2003. Wei entered The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts on scholarship in 2009 to study with Prof. Michael Ma and completed his Master's degree with distinction in 2017. As a soloist, Ningyi has appeared with the Academy Symphony Orchestra and the Shenzhen Arts School Philharmonic Orchestra.
Wei has participated in master classes with Maxim Vengerov, Cho-Liang Lin, He Wei, Qian Zhou, Hu Kun, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Xu Wei-Ling, Dong-Suk Kang, Tong Wei-Dong. As a member of the Gloucester String Quartet, he has performed in the master classes held by the Shanghai, Szymanowski, Penderecki, Chilingirian, Endellion, Miró and Miami String Quartets.
Wei was also invited by Musicus Society to perform in the Musicus Heritage Community Concerts, Chamber Music Gala and Children's Concert in Musicus Fest 2016 and 2017, sharing the stage with renowned international musicians including Trey Lee, Pekka Kuusisto and Vladimir Mendelssohn.
Wei is currently on faculty at the Junior Music Department of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
David Ma
David Ma is currently a student at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where his teachers include Megan Sterling, Olivier Nowak and Tim Wilson. Ma has won many prizes in local competitions and abroad, including the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival and the British Flute Society's School Performer Competition. He has performed in master classes with Sir James Galway, Thomas Robertello, Kate Lawson, Walter Auer and Henrik Wiese, among others.
As an orchestral flautist, Ma participated in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra's "Share the Stage" project conducted by Lorin Maazel and Christoph Eschenbach, as well as Musicus Society's Ensemble Training program with the London Chamber Orchestra conducted by Christopher Warren-Green. As a soloist, he appeared in the Musicus Heritage Community Concert Series, including "Move to the Music", "A Home in the Urban Jungle" concerts and Musicus Fest 2016 and 2017.
Mak Ka-yin
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Mak Ka-yin graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree (Hon.) and a Master's degree from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, majoring in Erhu and Gaohu performance in 2014 and 2016 respectively. His teachers included Zhang Chongxue and Professor Yu Qiwei. His excellent performances have brought him a number of scholarship awards including those offered by Exxon Mobile Ltd., the Hong Kong Bank Foundation (Hong Kong – Mainland Exchange Scholarship), as well as the Musicus Society Trey Lee Scholarship for his distinct performances from 2014 and 2016.
Mak is now a full-time musician in the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and is one of the core members of the local strings ensemble, Goin' Music. He has appeared in concerts in Australia, Finland, China and Taiwan, and has performed with numerous orchestras and ensembles such as the Hong Kong Youth Chinese Orchestra, YWCA Chinese Orchestra and Wang Kwong Chinese Orchestra.
Nancy Loo
Nancy Loo is one of Hong Kong's most versatile artists, as pianist, radio program host, actress and writer. She was a recipient of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award. She currently teaches piano at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is often invited to host music talks and master classes, and to serve as a juror for piano competitions.
Loo attended the Juilliard School on scholarship, where she studied with Adele Marcus. After graduating with a Master's degree, she studied with Vlado Perlemuter in Paris and Guido Agosti in Italy. She was First Prize winner at the Fourth Rina Sala Gallo International Competition in Monza, and has won awards in many other international competitions, including the Marguerite Long International Competition in Paris.
As a pianist, Loo has given solo recitals and performed with orchestras in England, Europe, North America and Asia. Locally, she has appeared in the Hong Kong Arts Festival Orchestra and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. A keen promoter of contemporary music, she has participated in the annual Musicarama and the ISCM World Music Days Festival. She has also played the piano part for the soundtracks of several Hong Kong films and television series. Her recordings include a piano solo album of Christian music, Ambush and Moonlight on Spring River with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and piano works by local composers.
Dennis Wu
Dennis Wu is an active music writer, composer and a specialist on a wide range of projects and productions. He is a radio producer, having produced and hosted numerous radio programes on RTHK Radio 4, and a frequent speaker in pre-concert talks, meet-the-artist panels and music criticism seminars. His writings are widely published in newspapers and magazines, including monthly articles on Hifi Review. Recently he has curated a concert of songs on Yu Kwang-chung's poems and performed in a series of concerts as the narrator.
Kathy Lam
As an arts administrator, Kathy Lam has worked for IMG Artists (New York), American Composer's Orchestra, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, and currently with Radio 4, Radio Television Hong Kong. Apart from hosting her weekday programs, Jazz and More ... and Arts News, she is an active voice-over talent and has narrated for Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra's Simply Classics series for two consecutive seasons. She is also a freelance music critic for newspapers and magazines. She has published two books, one on classical music and one teaching secondary school students writing music critiques.
Christopher Warren-Green
As Music Director and Principal Conductor of the London Chamber Orchestra, Christopher Warren-Green is dedicated to the promotion of new works and the established chamber orchestra repertoire. Passionate about music education, he plays a key role in Music Junction, a groundbreaking project where young people from very different backgrounds work together to create mutual empathy and connection through music-making. Their mission matches strikingly with the Musicus Inspires! education program of Musicus Society.
Aside from the LCO, Warren-Green works extensively in the US, as the Music Director of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and a frequent guest of orchestras including Houston Symphony, Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras, Washington's National Symphony Orchestra, Detroit, Seattle and Vancouver Symphony orchestras. In Europe, Warren-Green has toured with the Orchestre National de Belgique, and has previously worked with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, RTE National Symphony, Züricher Kammerorchester and Beethoven Orchester Bonn.
A regular conductor at summer festivals, Warren-Green has appeared at the Istanbul Music Festival, Three Choirs and Lichfield festivals with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Boston Summer Arts Weekend Festival, International Music Festival 'Chopin and his Europe' with Sinfonia Varsovia and Enescu Festival.
Warren-Green has recorded extensively for Sony, Philips, Virgin EMI, Chandos, Deutsche Grammophon and Signum Classics. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.
London Chamber Orchestra
Founded in 1921, the London Chamber Orchestra (LCO) is the UK's oldest professional chamber orchestra, and one of the world's finest ensembles. Under the leadership of Music Director and Principal Conductor Christopher Warren-Green, LCO has performed with internationally renowned soloists and conductors, recently including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lang Lang, Pekka Kuusisto, Lawrence Zazzo, Han-Na Chang, Paul Lewis, Augustin Dumay, Sol Gabetta, Natalie Clein and Julian Lloyd Webber.
The LCO enjoys the patronage of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, and has previously performed for both the Queen and the Prince of Wales, under the baton of Christopher Warren-Green. In 2011, LCO and Warren-Green performed for the Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Catherine Middleton, to an estimated global audience of two billion people.
The LCO has an enviable reputation as an innovative and adventurous ensemble, having premiered a number of works by twentieth century composers, including Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, de Falla, Prokofiev and Poulenc. This continues today, with premieres by figures such as Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, James MacMillan and Graham Fitkin.
Alongside its London season home, Cadogan Hall, LCO performs regularly at prestigious concert halls around the world, and has toured Asia, Europe and the US. LCO has a number of recordings for CDs for EMI, Virgin, Sony, Signum and Decca Records.
Bruno Canino
Seventy-nine-year-old esteemed pianist Bruno Canino has had numerous works dedicated to him by major composers of the last 50 years such as Berio, Anzaghi, Donatoni, Bussotti, Kagel, Rihm, Xenakis and Liebermann. He has toured four continents as a soloist and chamber musician, and has collaborated with many of the world's prominent string players, including Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Harrell, Salvatore Accardo, Viktoria Mullova and Uto Ughi. In addition, he has performed in a piano duo with Antonio Ballista since 1953 and is part of the Trio di Milano with violinist Saschko Gawriloff and cellist Siegfried Palm.
Canino's extensive discography includes Bach's Goldberg Variations, Mendelssohn's compositions for cello and piano (with Lynn Harrell), works by Prokofiev, Ravel and Stravinsky (with Viktoria Mullova for a disc that was awarded the Edison Prize), the complete works of Alfredo Casella, Bartók's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion (with Andras Schiff and the Amadinda Ensemble) and the first compact disc of the complete piano works by Debussy.
Canino has taught at the conservatories of Milan and Berne. From 1999 to 2002, he was the Music Director of the Biennale di Venezia. He has been presenting a triennial course for advanced piano studies in Seveso, Italy, and has given master classes throughout Europe. As versatile musician, Canino was the author of Vademecum for a Chamber Pianist (Passigli Editions, 1997) and also composes for piano and ensemble.
Dong-Suk Kang
Internationally revered violinist Dong-Suk Kang is a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, as well as the Artistic Director of MusicAlp Festival in France and Seoul Spring Festival in Korea.
A protégé of Ivan Galamian, Kang was a top prizewinner in a number of international competitions, including the Montreal, the Carl Flesch in London and the Queen Elisabeth in Brussels.
Kang has appeared with many great orchestras of the world including those of Philadelphia, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Baltimore, Washington and Montreal in America, and Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, BBC Orchestras, Halle, Birmingham, Scottish National, Munich, Stuttgart, Gewandhaus, French and Belgian National Orchestras, Gothenburg, Saint-Petersburg, Moscow, Polish National and Rotterdam in Europe. He has collaborated with the most celebrated conductors, including Charles Dutoit, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Mazur, Paavo Järvi, Yehudi Menuhin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leonard Slatkin, Myung-whun Chung, Mariss Jansons, Sir Roger Norrington and Alexander Lazarev amongst others. As a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Kang has performed in New York and toured throughout the US.
Kang has performed at major music centers and festivals throughout the world, including the London Proms. His concerts were frequently televised and broadcast on the radio in many countries. His strong interest in chamber music led to appearances at major chamber music festivals including those in Spoleto, Santa Fe, Kuhmo, Korsholm, Seattle, Vancouver, Newport and Australian Festival of Chamber Music. Kang has served on the jury for the major international competitions, such as Queen Elisabeth, Indianapolis, Montreal, Wieniawski, Long-Thibaud, Menuhin, Michael Hill, Sendai, Qingdao Tibor Varga and others.
A sought-after recording artist, Kang's recordings have won critical acclaim and awards, such as the Grand Prix du disque from both the Académie Charles Cros and the Nouvelle Académie du disque. His Walton Concerto CD was chosen as CD of the month by Gramophone magazine and nominated for Gramophone Award 2000.
Kang is also decorated as Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres, a distinction received from French Government.
Gian Paolo Peloso
Gian Paolo Peloso is regarded as one of the finest Italian violinists. He has studied with some of the greatest pedagogues of the 20th century, including the legendary Ruggiero Ricci, Ivry Gitlis, Igor Ozim, Gérard Poulet and Viktor Pikaisen. The venerated Ivry Gitlis says of him: "… I respect and love (Peloso): a true musician, of the highest quality as a soloist and chamber music performer, and a top class violin teacher, honor of our profession and its future."
Peloso made his debut at age ten under the direction of composer Luciano Berio. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras, in recitals and chamber music concerts extensively throughout Europe, most notably at Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland, Martha Argerich Festival in Switzerland, Music Concert Society of Milano, House of Music in Moscow, Sun Festival in Singapore, Archipel Festival in Geneva and Festival of Cannes in France. Peloso has also appeared in Musicus Fest and the Musicus Heritage Community Concert Series.
He has toured extensively with the Camerata de Lausanne. He has also performed chamber music with Sofia Gubaidulina, Mark Lubotsky, Pierre Amoyal and Bruno Canino. He was appointed Violin Professor at the Conservatory of Music (University) of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and has given master classes in Italy and Hong Kong.
Peloso is a Sony Classical artist and has recorded sonatas by Respighi and Busoni with pianist Bruno Canino in New York. Peloso He has also recorded sonatas by Saint-Saëns and Poulenc for the National Suisse Radio.
Peloso is presently on faculty at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and plays a prestigious Landolfi violin of 1755.
Mary Wu
Hailed as "one of the most gifted pianists of her generation" for her "musical variety, profundity and sensitivity" by Ravel's long time pupil Vlado Perlemuter, Mary Wu is also praised by the late Lord Yehudi Menuhin as having "a captivating poetical quality to her playing".
Starting from a young age, Mary Wu has performed extensively including performances with Lord Menuhin in Europe, cellist Colin Carr, the Gramophone Chamber Music Award winner Maggini Quartet, and in festivals including Hong Kong Arts Festival, Le French May, Singapore Arts Festival, International Contemporary Music Festival, Ibiza Festival in Spain, and The Intimacy of Creativity festival in which she performed with two-time Grammy award-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman.
Wu has collaborated with the Calgary Symphony in Canada, former Beijing Central Philharmonic (now China National Symphony Orchestra), Polish Gdansk Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Guangzhou Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, among others.
Wu is a graduate of the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Royal College of Music (RCM) and the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she completed her doctoral degree under Gilbert Kalish.
A 2003 "Top Ten Outstanding Young Person in Hong Kong", Wu has won the Chappell Gold Medal of RCM, first prize at the London Royal Overseas League Competition and the Mozart Bicentenary Competition of Asia, and the 2010 Hong Kong Arts Development Council Best Artist (Music) award.
Wu has recorded several CD recordings under BMG, ASV, Dutton, Paradisum (Contemporary Chinese Piano Works) and Universal (Ravel Piano Works).
Priya Mitchell
Priya Mitchell is described by The Strad as one of the foremost violinists of her generation. She was chosen as the British representative in the ECHO (European Concert Halls Organisation) "Rising Star" concert series and gave recitals in Paris (Cité de la Musique), Vienna (Konzerthaus), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts), London (Wigmore Hall) and New York (Carnegie Hall), leading to performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (with Yuri Temirkanov), the BBC Symphony Orchestra (with Richard Hickox), the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (with Sir Andrew Davis), the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, among others. She has collaborated with renowned orchestras such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Belgian Radio Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Polish National Radio Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic, and the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin.
As a sought-after chamber musician, Mitchell has performed extensively at many international festivals such as those held at Risør, Lockenhaus, Heimbach, Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Stavanger, Kuhmo and Lugano.
In 2000 she started her own festival, the Oxford Chamber Music Festival, in her hometown and of which she is the Artistic Director.The Independent described this festival as putting Oxford "on the map of the classical music world" and The Daily Telegraph "a musical miracle".
Mitchell plays a Balestrieri violin made in the 1760s, generously on loan to her by a private family trust.
A multi-talented musician, Elena Cheah has toured Europe, North America and Asia, and performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orquesta Sinfonica de Burgos and Sinfonietta92 Berlin. She has appeared in many respected European and American chamber music festivals, and her partners in chamber music have included members of the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. She has also been the Principal Cellist of Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin under Christian Thielemann and Staatskapelle Berlin under Daniel Barenboim. As a Guest Principal Cellist, Cheah has collaborated with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich and Bach Collegium Stuttgart.
Cheah has been professor of cello at the Academy of Orchestral Studies of Barenboim-Said Foundation in Seville, Spain, the University of Music and the Performing Arts in Stuttgart, and the University of Music in Freiburg. She was the editor of Daniel Barenboim's acclaimed book Everything is Connected: The Power of Music, and wrote her own book An Orchestra Beyond Borders: Voices of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (published by Verso in 2009).
Michel Lethiec
Michel Lethiec has established himself as one of the world's finest clarinetists today, with an international career that spans four continents. A master of the entire clarinet repertoire, Lethiec has performed as a soloist with the most prominent orchestras, as a recitalist and chamber musician.
Since his debut at Carnegie Hall in 1980, Lethiec has collaborated with some of the most celebrated musicians and ensembles, such as Arto Noras, Leonidas Kavakos, Mistlav Rostropovitch, Gary Hoffmann, Hagai Shaham, Yuri Bashmet, Yehudi Menuhin, Ralf Gothoni, Mikhail Rudy, Pierre Amoyal, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, the Moscow Virtuosi, the Talich, Prazak and Lindsay Quartets. Among the many orchestras he has appeared with are Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, English and Toulouse chamber orchestras, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Salzburg Mozarteum and Philharmonique de Radio France. He has toured extensively throughout Europe, the US, Middle East and Far East.
Lethiec is the Artistic Director of Festival Pablo Casals in Prades, and has an extensive discography of solo and chamber performances that includes two Grands Prix du Disque. He has recorded under the labels of Naxos, Lyrinx, R.C.A., Bis and Sonophyl with critical acclaim.
As a devoted pedagogue, Lethiec teaches at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and Nice Conservatoire. He frequently gives master classes in other renowned music schools.
Roydon Tse
Hailed as a composer "glittering with professionalism" (Vancouver Sun), and writing music "mature beyond his years" (Christos Hatzis), Roydon Tse is an award-winning Chinese Canadian composer who writes from the heart, and strives to inspire audiences from all backgrounds with his music, from the first time listener to the most sophisticated classical connoisseur.
Tse has won prizes at several competitions such as the 2015 Washington International Composition Competition, 2014 CMC Prairies Emerging Composers' Prize, NewMusic @ ECU Orchestral Composition Competition, 2013 Trio Anima Mundi International Composers' Competition and the Robert Avalon International Competition for Composers.
Born in Hong Kong, Roydon studied piano and composition in England and Canada at an early age. He holds composition degrees from the University of British Columbia (BMus) and the University of Toronto (MMus), and is currently completing his Doctorate at the latter institution.
Willis Wong
Willis Wong graduated with a Bachelor's of Music degree from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where he studied composition with Poly Ng. Wong took part in the multimedia concerts, Spirit of Birds and Claustrophobic Spaces, and directed his own multimedia concert, From the Inside Out. In 2015, Wong was commissioned by Musicus Society and compose Sampling Tea, inspired by the Former Marine Police Headquarters. He was also invited to the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival 2016 in Finland for a second performance. Wong is also keen on arrangements and composing original soundtracks. His music for the multi award-winning animation film, Chill and Shivering, received a nominated for Best Original Score in Feel The Real International Film Festival in 2016. Wong was also featured in the 2017 Musicus Fest, as the arranger for the Children's Concert.
Wong is now studying Master of Music in Composition and Production at Australian institute of Music, under the tutelage of Eric Chapus. Wong has recently taken part in the Love the world concert as Music Director.
Jia Nan
Born in Beijing, Jia Nan entered the Affiliated Schools of the Central Conservatory of Music at age seven, where she learned to play the cello under Prof. Song Tao. Jia was later admitted to Bard College Conservatory of Music at the age of 16 and studied under the renowned cellist, Peter Wiley. She earned her Bachelor's degree with first class honors and her Master's degree with distinction at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, under the tutelage of Prof. Ray Wang.
Jia has performed in a number of master classes given by world renowned cellists, such as Yo-yo Ma, Gary Hoffman, Richard Bamping, Martin Lohr and Hai-ye Ni. She was featured in the concertos of Victor Herbert and Shostakovich with the Academy Symphony Orchestra. Her awards include the Third Prize of the 4th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, Second Prize in Cello solo and First Prize in the Chamber Division in the 1st Schoenfeld International String Competition.
Jia has given multiple recitals in Hong Kong and mainland China. She performed alongside with renowned violinist Dong-Suk Kang and others in Musicus Fest 2015 and 2018. She has also appeared in the Heritage Community Concerts of Musicus Society.
Jia is currently on faculty at the Junior Music Department at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She is also a freelance cellist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Gloucester String Quartet
Winner of the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld 1st International String Competition Chamber Music Division, the Gloucester String Quartet is one of the rising quartets in Asia. Their performances have been heard in venues such as the Royal Academy of Music in London, the West Dean College, the Wells Cathedral, the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Hong Kong City Hall.
A graduate quartet in residence of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Gloucester String Quartet is currently under the tutelage of Ivan Chan (former leader of the Miami String Quartet), Prof. Michael Ma and Prof. Ray Wang. They have participated in masterclasses held by the Shanghai, Szymanowski, Penderecki, Chilingirian, Endellion, Miró, Debussy and Miami String Quartets.
Recent highlights include performances with members of the Miami String Quartet in the Helmut Sohmen and Peter Thompson International Artists Series in 2013; a concert with pianist Ido Akov from Jerusalem presented by the Consulate General of Israel in Hong Kong in 2014; Musicus Heritage Community Concert with pianist Colleen Lee at PMQ in 2015; a China tour to Chengdu and Shantou and a concert with guitarist Craig Ogden in Hong Kong in 2016.
The Gloucester String Quartet receives scholarship from VM Strings. Zheng's 1706 Matteo Goffriller violin, Wei's 1839 Giuseppe Baldantoni violin and Choi's 1770 Lorenzo Storioni viola are on loan from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and Xu's 1836 Simon Andrew Forster of London cello is on loan from the Society of the Academy for Performing Arts (SAPA).
Belle Shiu
Award-winning pipa player Belle Shiu has performed in Asia and Europe. Her debut at Musicus Fest in 2014 included collaborations with Artistic Director Trey Lee, celebrated violists Yuri Bashmet and Vladimir Mendelssohn, as well as the world-renowned ensemble Moscow Soloists. In 2015, she represented Musicus Society by performing at the prestigious Kuhmo Festival in Finland, and toured the UK and Ireland representing her alma mater the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). Among her major engagements is her solo debut with the Birmingham Symphonic Winds.
Shiu is currently a student of renowned pipa pedagogue Zhang Ying at the HKAPA's Masters degree program. In addition, she is an associate member of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and a core member of the Yue Pipa Ensemble.
Ms. Sophie Lin
Sophie Lin has over twenty years of combined experience in international arts management and education covering the North American and Greater China regions. She has worked with some of the most prestigious arts organizations in the world; namely, The Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Concert Artists Guild and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in the capacity of artist management, orchestra operation, concert production, as well as personnel. In Asia, she has played an instrumental role in the fundraising for the Asian Youth Orchestra across China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the field of education, she was the Development Director of American Field Services, an international cultural exchange organization targeted at underprivileged students of Hong Kong.
Among the numerous major international projects, Sophie Lin has consulted for the Concert Series of University of Chicago. Most recently, she collaborated with the Curtis Institute of Music in managing its educational tour to Hong Kong.
Ms Lin received her masters in arts management from Carnegie Mellon University, and her bachelor in piano performance with a minor in violin performance from Duquene University, both on full scholarships.
Prof. Tseng Sun-man, JP
Prof. Tseng Sun-man has held a number of senior arts management positions in Hong Kong, including Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society, Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Head of Radio Four, Radio Television Hong Kong, and Assistant General Manager (Marketing and Development) of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since 2002, Prof. Tseng has concentrated on consultancy and arts management training, teaching and designing training programes in Hong Kong and Mainland China. He served as Chair of the Arts Administration Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music from 2005 to 2008. He has taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong SPACE, Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, Shantou University, Xing Hai Conservatory of Music and the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing. Prof Tseng is now developing a series of arts management enhancement programes catered specially for in-service managers for the Hong Kong Institute of Education.
Prof. Tseng was a founding member of the Hong Kong Arts Administrators Association and served as its Chairman from 1991 to 94. He is currently Chairman of the Committee on Venue Partnership of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, a member of the Advisory Committee on Arts Development of the Hong Kong Government, an Arts Advisor (Arts Management) of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, and a board member of the Hong Kong Children's Choir.
His book, Principles of Arts Management (in Chinese), has sold more than 5000 copies.
Wong Chi-chung
Wong Chi-chung studied Chinese Huqin Performance with Tong Leung-tak and Western Orchestral Conducting and with Yip Wing-sie. He received the Advanced Diploma and Professional Diploma from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Wong has performed in many places such as Italy, France, Australia, USA and Poland. He is also an active performer in Hong Kong, and has participated in many local performances and recordings including the "Local Composers' Works Concert" and the "International Contemporary Music Festival - Musicarama". He was also invited by the Radio Television Hong Kong to have solo recitals.
Wong joined the Chinese Music Virtuosi in 1997 and participated in numerous concerts presented by the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Le French May, Musicus Fest, Musicus Heritage Community Concert and Hong Kong Composers' Guild etc. He is now a part-time lecturer at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Ning Feng
Prize-winning violinist Ning Feng's technical brilliance and poetic, expressive interpretations of the great masterworks of the violin repertoire have made him one of the most exciting of the younger generation.
A recipient of prizes at the Hanover International, Queen Elisabeth and Yehudi Menuhin International violin competitions, Ning Feng was First Prize winner of the 2006 International Paganini Competition. As a soloist, he has performed with renowned orchestras such asBudapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer, Russian State Symphony under Vladimir Jurowski and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg under Muhai Tang. In recital, he has played in the Schleswig-Holstein festival and in concert halls such as Sydney Opera House, Vienna Konzerthaus and Berlin Konzerthaus.
Ning Feng records for Channel Classics in the Netherlands. His latest recording is of the Bruch Scottish Fantasy and Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Previously for the label, he recorded two albums of solo works – one with the solo sonatas by Bartók, Prokofiev and Hindemith, and the first album with works by Paganini, Kreisler, Berio, Schnittke and others which was highly praised by Audiophile Auditio, "You will be blown away by the artistry of this album, and blown away in great sound to boot…"
Ning plays a 1721 Stradivari violin, known as the "MacMillan", on private loan, kindly arranged by Premiere Performances of Hong Kong.
Andrew Ling
Andrew Ling is currently the principal violist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and has given critically acclaimed solo performances with the orchestra.
Ling began studying the violin at the age of six under the instruction of the late Professor Lin Yaoji from Beijing's Central Music Conservatory. As a child, he toured the world as a violin soloist with the Yip's Children's Choir of Hong Kong. He has also collaborated with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and the China Film Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, he has given recitals in Hong Kong, the North America and Europe .
Ling is an active chamber musician, having performed with Trey Lee, Jaime Laredo, Cho-Liang Lin and with such notable groups as the Shanghai String Quartet. He has also been invited to Chamber Residency of the prestigious Banff Centre in Canada as a guest artist.
A dedicated music educator, Ling is currently an adjunct faculty member of the Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Jan-Erik Gustafsson
Winner of the 1986 Eurovision Young Musicians competition and 1994 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Gustafsson has performed as a soloist across the world with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, and Radio Symphonies of Berlin, Sweden, Finland, Danmark and Holland. He has performed in prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, as well as appearing regularly at major festivals throughout the Scandinavia.
Gustafsson is the Artistic Director of Loviisa Sibelius Festival in Finland. His recordings under Ondine were nominated Record of the Year in 1994 and 2000 by the IFPI, a Finnish recording label and producer association.
Chinese Music Virtuosi
The Chinese Music Virtuosi was founded by six Chinese instrumentalists, Loo Sze Wang (Sheng), Chu Siu Wai (Dizi/Xiao), Wong Chi Chung (Huqin), Pan Ya Sze (Yangqin), Chiu Tan Ching (Zheng) and Lam Tsan Tong (Pipa). The ensemble aims to promote Chinese instrumental music and also popularize Chinese instruments by expanding into the field of contemporary music.
Since its establishment, Chinese Music Virtuosi has presented numerous concerts, workshops both local and overseas to critical acclaim for its diverse repertoire and remarkable techniques. Its recent performances include the collaboration with Fulcrum point New Music Project in Chicago (2009) and a performance in Artistree series organized by The Hong Kong Sinfonietta (2011).
During the 2011/2012 season, the Chinese Music Virtuosi has been appointed as The Ensemble-in-Residence by the The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Hailed as the "Paganini of the Viola," the legendary Yuri Bashmet occupies a special place in the history of music, turning the viola for the very first time into a recognized solo instrument. Gidon Kremer credited him as "one of the greatest viola masters in current world," and The Times described him as "without doubt, one of the world's greatest living musicians."
In 1976, Bashmet won first prize at the International Viola Competition in Munich, which launched his international career. He is particularly excellent with the viola works of the 20th century, and he frequently plays with top-level artists from the classical music world while maintaining his special features, which have won him an international reputation.
Composers worldwide have created more than 50 works dedicated to Bashmet, and nearly all of the world's best orchestras have invited him to appear as soloist. The list of conductors he collaborated with includes Mstislav Rostropovich, Sir Colin Davis, Valery Gergiev, Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle and Pierre Boulez. In chamber music, his collaborators include Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Maxim Vengerov, Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich. In January 2013, a jubilee festival with worldwide participation of renowned musicians and a number of special events were dedicated to Bashmet for his 60th birthday celebration. He is also an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
Bashmet has released numerous recordings under BMG, Sony and Deutsche Grammophon, and has received multiple recognitions including the Diapason d'Or and Grammy Awards. Other notable DG discs are Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with Anne-Sophie Mutter, Brahms's Piano Quartet No.1 with Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer and Mischa Maisky, and the recently released Bartok Concerto with Berliner Philharmoniker and Pierre Boulez.
Bashmet plays a 1759 Testore viola, which he bought in 1971. It is a similar model to the one that Mozart played.
Moscow Soloists
Declared by the press as "one of the best of this genre in the world," the Grammy Award-winning Moscow Soloists and its founder Artistic Director Yuri Bashmet have performed over 1,300 concerts in more than 40 countries on five continents, appearing in the world's most prestigious venues and events, including Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Toyko's Suntory Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre and most recently, at the Closing Ceremony of 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
The ensemble has collaborated with notable artists such as Sviatoslav Richter, Gidon Kremer, Mstislav Rostropovich, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Shlomo Mintz, Barbara Hendricks, James Galway, Jessye Norman and Anna Netrebko, and has released numerous recordings under EMI, Sony Classical and ONYX with critical acclaim.
The ensemble was created by Yuri Bashmet in 1992, with Bashmet gathering the cream of the graduates of the Moscow State Conservatory. The growing repertoire of the Moscow Soloists is rich and diverse, comprising both masterpieces of classical music and works of contemporary composers as well as rarely performed older works. Consequently, the programmes put together by the Moscow Soloists are marked by their beautiful and interesting premieres.
Fung Dic-lun Gordon
A prolific composer, Gordon Fung's works are performed in Hong Kong and overseas. Fung has received several international awards including Atlas Ensemble Composition Competition Prize, 10th Luxembourg Sinfonietta International Composition Prize, as well as receiving international commissions from South Korea National Gugak Center, Atlas Ensemble, among others. He is currently writing a new work for EXPO Milano 2015's project "Feeding Music".
Fung is a Ph.D. candidate in music composition at the University of Hong Kong.
Lau Hiu-kong Lawrence
Lawrence Lau's works have been premiered and performed locally and abroad in Japan and Italy. He has written numerous chamber music works, such as Thorns (piano trio), Xiao (clarinet quartet), Rain Flower Pebbles (string quartet), among others. His viola solo work The Sweetness of the Land was performed by Hong Kong New Music Ensemble in the concert "Sound-Imagination: Hong Kong One Moment" in November 2013.
Lau is currently a Bachelor of Music student majoring in composition at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Wong Chun Wai
Ronald Wong has a versatile composition profile that ranges from chamber and orchestral music to musicals and film scores. He is the winner of several competitions, such as the 2014 Veridian Symphony Orchestra 2nd Annual Call for Scores Competition (USA) and the New Generation Concert in 2011 (Hong Kong). Wong's music has also been featured in events such as the 59th International Rostrum of Composers (Sweden) and ISCM World Music Days 2012 (Belgium).
Wong is a doctoral candidate (D.Mus) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was granted The Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Scholarship in 2010, 2013 and 2014. His works have been recorded and published by the Hong Kong Composers' Guild.
Ho Shun-yin
Ho Shun-yin is a Bachelor Degree student at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, majoring in piano studies with Professor Gabriel Kwok. She was awarded the Gold Prize and Soloist Award at the 15th International Chopin Piano Competition in Asia in Tokyo, and has attained prizes at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival.
Vince Eliezer N. Chua
Vince Chua began his violin training at the age of four. He was admitted to The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2012, where he studied with Prof. Michael Ma. The following year, Chua received a fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council to participate in the prestigious Aspen Music Festival and School, studying with Ms. Sylvia Rosenberg, Ms. Naoko Tanaka and Mr. James Dunham over the summer.
Chua obtained his Bachelor's degree with First Class Honors and subsequently his Master's degree with distinction from the Academy. He is currently on faculty at the Junior Music Program at his alma mater and a freelance violinist with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Chua also works closely with master Italian violin makers Alfredo and Andrea Primavera and plays on numerous fine instruments.
Prof. Kenneth Kwan
Dr Kenneth Kwan graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo majoring in music theory, conducting and classical guitar. He is currently teaching at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou where he established the classical guitar program. He has appeared on programs for RTHK and TVB, as well as lectures presented by the LCSD to introduce a variety of arts related subjects to the audience.
Dr Kwan is also a seasoned toastmaster who has won international speech contests representing Hong Kong — he is sought after as MC for various events and facilitator of workshops for speech making. In recent years Dr Kwan has turned his attention to standup comedy and has become a regular for shows at the Hong Kong Takeout Comedy performing in English, Cantonese and Putonghua, and he has brought his comedy to Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Singapore.
Latica Honda-Rosenberg
"Her assurance and strength of will immediately brought Heifetz to mind. Her musical idiom and her playing are eloquent, expressive, sensitive and variegated, or in short: wonderful uplifting." The Strad
Silver medalist of the 1998 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Latica Honda-Rosenberg has appeared across the world as a soloist with eminent orchestras including the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Hanover, MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzing, the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Russian State Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, amongst others. She has released several famous recordings under Oehms Classics with The STRAD selecting one of them with works by Bloch as CD of the Month.
Born to Croatian-Japanese parents, Honda-Rosenberg was a student of Tibor Varga and Zakhar Bron. Between 2003 and 2009, she held a professorship at Musikhochschule Freiburg. In 2009, she was appointed professor at the Berlin University of Arts.
Jens Peter Maintz
Jens Peter Maintz took the classical music world by storm in 1994 when he won the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, the first cellist to do so in 17 years. Since then, he has performed worldwide with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Herbert Blomstedt, Marek Janowski, Franz Welser-Möst, and orchestra including the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSO), Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Residentie Orkest of The Hague and Berlin Komische Oper Orchestra.
A dedicated chamber musician, Maintz has partnered with eminent musicians including Janine Jansen, Helene Grimaud, Isabelle Faust, and ensembles such as the Artemis Quartet and Auryn Quartet. Formerly a member of the Trio Fontenay, Mainz became principal cellist of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under Claudio Abbado in 2006.
Maintz has released a number of CDs to critical acclaim, including his debut album with works by Bach, Kodaly and Dutilleux by Sony Classical which received the ECHO Klassik award. Formerly a student of renowned cellist David Geringas, Maintz was appointed professor at the Berlin University of Arts in 2004. He plays a cello made by Vincenzo Rugeri in 1696 and another one made by Wofgang Schnabl in 2010.
Virpi Räisänen
Following her recent career change from a successful violinist to a mezzo-soprano, the versatile Finnish opera star Virpi Räisänen has appeared on stages worldwide, including Aix-en-Provence Festival, Radio France's Festival Presences, Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Hall, Tokyo's Musashino Recital Hall, Helsinki Music Centre, Staatsoper Berlin, Netherlands Opera and Haendel Festival Halle.
Almognst her many important engagements, Räisänen made her debut at the Salzburger Festspiele in 2009 in Luigi Nono's opera Al gran sole carico d'amore with Ingo Metzmacher conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, followed by an immediate re-engagement in 2010 for the premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Dionysos at the festival. Other major appearances included her Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Hall debut in 2011 with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Sakari Oramo.
In 2012, Räisänen's highly acclaimed debut CD Legacy of Mahler ;was released by ONDINE. She created the project VIULAJA (violin-mezzo) around her ability to sing and play violin simultaneously. She has sung the leading roles in Handel's Floridante, Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice and Offenbach's Le Contes d'Hoffmann. Being a multi-talented artists, Räisänen is also the Artistic Director of Oulunsalo Soi Chamber Music Festival.
Kenny Lam
Kenny Lam is studying in the Dual Degree Program in Technology and Management at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He participated in the Hong Kong School Music Festival as a leader, recorder player and singer. His musical interests span from baroque, jazz, to fusion music.
Kenny has also started studying composition at the University, and has been taught by Bright Sheng and Eli Marshall. He composes both pop music and chamber music. As the sound engineer and arranger of Set Tone Men a cappella group, he has arranged numerous pieces for a cappella singers. Kenny is also an active member in the choir Die Konzertisten. He has obtained Dip ABRSM diploma certificate for piano performance and Grade 8 in treble recorder.
Dimitri Ashkenazy
Born in 1969 in New York, Dimitri Ashkenazy began playing the piano at the age of six and then switched to the clarinet under the tuition of Giambattista Sisini, with whom he continued studying when he entered the Conservatory of Lucerne in 1989.
Dimitri Ashkenazy performs internationally as both a soloist and chamber musician. He has appeared with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Japan Philharmonic. In 2014, Ashkenazy made his BBC Proms debut, performing Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' Strathclyde Concerto No. 4 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra as part of the composer's 80th birthday celebrations.
An active chamber musician, Dimitri has performed with the Kodály and Faust quartets and with partners such as Barbara Bonney, Helmut Deutsch, David Golub, Edita Gruberova, Ariane Haering, Antonio Meneses, Cristina Ortiz, Maria João Pires, and of course, his brother Vovka and father Vladimir Ashkenazy. At the Lucerne Festival he gave the world premiere of Maxwell Davies' Clarinet Quintet "Hymn to Artemis Locheia" with the Brodsky Quartet.
In addition to his concert activities, Dimitri Ashkenazy has made numerous recordings (Pan Classics, Decca, Ondine), radio broadcasts (Radio Nacional de España, France Musiques, Radio della Svizzera Italiana, DeutschlandRadio) and television appearances, and has given masterclasses in Australia, Spain, Romania, New Zealand, Singapore, Iceland, Switzerland and USA.
Vladimir Ashkenazy
One of the few artists to combine a successful career as a pianist and conductor, Russian-born Vladimir Ashkenazy inherited his musical gift from his parents. Ashkenazy first came to prominence on the world stage in the 1955 Chopin Competition in Warsaw and as first prize-winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 1956. Since then he has built an extraordinary career, not only as one of the most outstanding pianists of the 20th century, but as an artist whose creative life encompasses a vast range of activities and continues to offer inspiration to music-lovers across the world.
Conducting has formed the largest part of Vladimir Ashkenazy's activities for the past 30 years. He is the Conductor Laureate of the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Iceland Symphony and NHK Symphony orchestras. From 2000 to 2015, he was Music Director of the European Union Youth Orchestra; and from 2009 to 2013, he was Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He maintains strong links with major orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and makes guest appearances with leading ensembles all over the world.
Ashkenazy maintains his devotion to the piano, these days mostly in the recording studio, where he continues to build his extraordinarily comprehensive recording catalogue, including the Grammy award-winning album of Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues, Rautavaara's Piano Concerto No.3 (a work which he commissioned), Bach's Wohltemperierte Klavier, and Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. Spring 2013 saw the release of 'Ashkenazy: 50 Years on Decca' - a 50-CD box-set celebrating Ashkenazy's long standing relationship with the label. In 2014, Decca also released a milestone collection of Ashkenazy's vast catalogue of Rachmaninov's piano music, which also includes all of his recordings as a conductor of the composer's orchestral music.
Mantua Chamber Orchestra
The Mantua Chamber Orchestra (OCM) was founded in 1981 and has proven to have technical brilliance, great attention to style and a constant search for sound quality. In 1997, the Italy's National Association of Music Critics awarded the orchestra a Franco Abbiati prize, Italy's most distinguished music awards, for its "unique stylistic refinement, which merges Italian instrumental tradition and classical repertoire". The OCM resides at Teatro Bibiena in Mantua, which is an authentic jewel of architecture and acoustics.
The OCM has been performing in Italy and abroad for over 30 years with world-renowned conductors and soloists, some of these include Gidon Kremer, Joshua Bell, Salvatore Accardo, Mischa Maisky, and the unforgettable Astor Piazzola, to name a few.
In the last two decades, the orchestra has launched several important artist cycles of selected works by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and Schumann. has recorded for several television and radio programs such as RAI, Bayerischer Rundfunk and the Swiss RSTI. In 2009, the OCM recorded three of Haydn's symphonies, on commission by the most important Italian musical magazine, Amadeus. The OCM has also recorded two well-appreciated CDs with the pianist Angela Hewitt dedicated to Mozart's piano concertos, published by Hyperion in 2011.
Xuefei Yang
Praised by the Gramophone magazine as one of the leading innovators of her generation, Xuefei was the first-ever guitarist in China to enter a music school and became the first internationally recognised Chinese guitarist on the world stage.
Her first public appearance was at the age of ten and received such acclaim that the Spanish Ambassador in China presented her with a concert guitar. Her debut in Madrid at the age of 14 was attended by the composer Joaquín Rodrigo and, when John Williams heard her play, he gave two of his own instruments to Beijing's Central Conservatoire especially for her and other advanced students.
Yang's international success has led to her appearances at numerous prestigious venues in more than 50 countries. She is frequently invited to play with the world's leading orchestras, & collaborate with artists such as Jian Wang, Ian Bostridge, Rosalind Plowright, Sir James Galway, Elias String Quartet, the Heath Quartet and the cross-over artist David Garrett.
Yang has made many acclaimed recordings for major labels. Her first received a gold disc and her second was selected as 'Editor's Choice' in Gramophone magazine. She has also appeared on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, the BBC Proms, & documentaries on BBC & China Central Television. The UK classical music magazine, Classic FM, named Xuefei as one of the 100 top classical musicians of our time.
Alexander Hülshoff
Alexander Hülshoff has established himself in recent years as one of the leading cellists. His interpretations are distinguished for their expressiveness coupled with an unmistakable, warm and lyrical tone, which are much appreciated by audiences and musical partners alike and are his outstanding qualities on the world's concert platforms. He is guest soloist with major international orchestras such as the German Radio Philharmonic, the German State Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic of Brno, the New Philharmonic of Westphalia, Rom Symphony Orchestra, the Enescu Philharmonic, the Tel Aviv Soloist Ensemble, the Limburg Symphony Orchestra of Maastricht, the Armenian Philharmonic and many others.
Chamber music plays a significant role and has an important place in Hülshoff's work. He has appeared with the Bamberg Trio and fellow musicians such as Pinchas Zukerman, Hagai Shaham, Vadim Gluzman, Fine Arts Quartett, Gil Sharon, Rainer Honeck, Boris Garlitsky in renowned concert halls such as the Berliner Philharmonic, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Rotterdam's De Doelen and the Wigmore Hall in London. He has been guest instrumentalist at the Schleswig Holstein Festival, the Enescu Festival, Kfar Blum in Israel, Amadéo Festival in Slovenia and Musicus Fest in Hong Kong. Hülshoff is also Artistic Director of the Kloster Kamp Chamber Music Festival and the Landauer Meisterkonzerte Serie.
Numerous CDs testify to the breadth of his musical scope, which includes works by Brahms, Beethoven, Schubert, Shostakovitch, Bloch and Servais, amongst others. His recordings are released under the Novalis, Naxos, Musicaphon, Paladino, Brilliant and Hänssler Classic. His concert tours regularly take him to other European countries, the Near, Middle and Far East as well as to Asia and North and South America.
Hülshoff was appointed Professor of Cello at the Folkwang University of the Arts in 1997. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Orchesterzentrum in Dortmund the institute for professional orchestral training of four universities of music (Cologne, Essen, Düsseldorf, Detmold). He is also the Artistic Director of the Villa Musica since 2011.
Elina Vähälä
Elina Vähälä is one of the most sought-after violinists in the international music scene. She is a winner of the Joseph Joachim Violin Competition in Hanover in 2000.
Born in the United States and raised in Finland, Vähälä began to play the violin at the age of 3 at the Lahti Conservatory. Vähälä made her orchestra debut at the age of 12 with Sinfonia Lahti. Conductor Osmo Vänskä later chose her as Sinfonia Lahti's "Young Master Soloist." Since then she has collaborated with this Gramophone Award-winning orchestra regularly. Vähälä has formed another special partnership with the English Chamber Orchestra, with which she has performed around the world and shared the stage with Maxim Vengerov.
In December 2008 Vähälä performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and concert. The television broadcast of the Nobel concert was seen by 300 million households in 100 countries. Vähälä has performed in Europe, the United States and South Africa and on tours in China, Hong Kong and South Korea.
Vähälä plays a 1678 Antonio Stradivari violin generously loaned by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
Oliver Triendl
German pianist Triendl has gained a reputation as one of the most versatile players of his instrument. He is especially interested in rarely performed repertoire from the Classical and Romantic periods and has a commitment to contemporary works. Triendl is featured on more than 80 recordings and has given concerts at all major music venues in Europe, North and South America, Asia, South Africa and Russia.
A native of Mallersdorf (Bavaria), Triendl was winner of several national and international competitions. He is a student of Rainer Fuchs, Karl-Heinz Diehl, Eckart Besch, Gerhard Oppitz and Oleg Maisenberg.
As a soloist, Triendl has performed with such celebrated orchestras as the Bamberg and Munich Symphonies, NDR Radio Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, St. Petersburg Camerata, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Zagreb Soloists. As a passionate chamber musician, he has collaborated with musicians such as Lorin Maazel, Ana Chumachenko, David Geringas, Ilya Gringolts, Christian Tetzlaff, Antje Weithaas, Pekka Kuusisto, Baiba Skride, François Leleux, Sharon Kam, Paul Meyer, Sabine and Wolfgang Meyer, Radovan Vlatković, Carolin and Jörg Widmann, as well as the Auryn, Carmina, Keller, Leipzig, Pražák, Sine Nomine and Vogler quartets, to name just a few.
In 2006, Triendl founded the Fürstensaal Classix International Chamber Music Festival in Kempten in Bavaria's Allgäu region.
Bevis Ng
Bevis Ng started learning percussion at a young age, under the tutelage of Margie Tong. He is currently a percussion major in the Bachelor of Music program at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where he receives full support from the HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund. His teachers include the renowned percussionist Dr. Lung Heung-wing and James Boznos, principal timpanist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ng has won various international and local music competitions. He was one of the concerto winners at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2018 and performed Emmanuel Sejourne's Concerto for Marimba and Strings with the Academy Symphony Orchestra. In September 2017, he won the first prize in Marimba Category A in the Hong Kong-Macau-Taiwan regional percussion competition, organized by the International Percussion Education Association.
Ng has participated in various international music festivals, including the Beta Percussion International Institution (Eugene, OR) and Zeltsman Marimba Festival (New Brunswick, NJ). He has also participated in numerous masterclasses by percussion and marimba virtuosos, including Pius Cheung, Eriko Daimo, Nancy Zeltsman, Nanae Mimura, to name a few.
Besides percussion, Ng studied the clarinet with Anthony Wong and obtained both the Associate and Licentiate of the Trinity College London Diplomas in Clarinet Recital.
A passionate composer, Ng has also studied composition under Poly Ng. At the age of 12, he became the winner of Junior Division in the Pikes Peak Young Composers Competition.
Ng is also committed to local community activities. He has performed in Musicus Heritage Community Concert. He was also featured in the Chamber Music Gala in Musicus Fest 2017, sharing the stage with the world renowned guitarist Yang Xuefei.
Ursula Volkmann
Ursula Volkmann is a specialist in Italian commedia dell'arte and a dedicated educator of the theatre. Since her early childhood, Volkmann has been passionately involved with music and dance. She holds a Master's degree in musicology from Université Paris and worked in the management teams of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra (Vienna) and Mahler Chamber Orchestra (Berlin).
Following an acting workshop under the direction of Antonio Fava, one of the leading experts in commedia dell'arte, she decided to dedicate herself intensively to acting, giving her debut at the Cook Theater in Sarasota in 2005 with Vita, Morte e Resurrezione di Pulcinella. Apart from engaging in other workshops and productions directed by Antonio Fava, Volkmann continued her training as an actress with Riccardo Vannuccini (founder of the multi-ethnic theater company Il Cane Pezzato) and Jean-Paul Denizon (former assistant of Peter Brook) amongst others and performed in their productions.
Volkmann has devoted her efforts on theater for children and young people in recent years, both as an actress and an author. As a member of the theater company Arété Ensemble, she was involved in a new production of The Emperor's New Clothes. Together with her artistic partner Maddalena Recino, Volkmann has been carrying out various projects for children and teenagers at the Swiss and German schools in Rome since 2015, such as workshops, bilingual stage readings and direction of shows. Their recent project was the production of the musical Felicitas at the Swiss school in Rome.
Outside Europe, Volkmann has appeared as director-scriptwriter-actress in the Children's Concert productions of Musicus Fest 2017 and 2018 in Hong Kong.
Ursula Volkmann currently lives with her partner and their two children in Rome.
Mavis Lam
Mavis Lam started learning the Pipa at the age of ten and graduated at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Lam was invited by the former Regional Council to perform in the first "Young Soloist Series" recitals during the high school. She won the China Pipa Competition – Outstanding Award (Professional Group) after HKAPA graduation respectively.
As an active musician, Lam performed as soloist extensively in Hong Kong and abroad. She is often invited to participate in multi-disciplinary creations which led her to partner with Zuni Icosahedron, Hong Kong Dance Company, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Ho Bit Goon, Chinese Music Virtuosi, Fulcrum Point New Music Project (the US), and TIMF Ensemble (Korea) etc. She is the Music Manager of Wuji Ensemble, formed by renown Hong Kong composer Law Wing-Fai in 2003 with highly skilled and experienced performers of the Chinese plucked-string instruments of the Ruan and the Pipa. Lam has also been featured in Musicus Fests.
Lam is actively involved in Wuji Ensemble's current three-year project of Atmospheric Music Theatre. Her recent main performances include Reveries of The Red Chamber & Mindful Theatre Vipassana by the Hong Kong Dance Company, Dance Drama The Peach Blossom Fan direct by Tang Shu-wing, Miu Chuk-yin and Xing Liang in Nanjing. Kuhmo Music Festival Finland among others.
Jo Chim
Jo Chim discovered theatre at Brown University. She moved to Hong Kong after graduation, where she worked a number of jobs in the arts and media. She re-discovered her passion for theatre and decided to pursue acting full time back in North America.
Favourite theatre credits include Celia in Shakespeare's As You Like It and Fumiko in Hana's Suitcase. Jo has appeared in Hollywood movies such as Take The Lead with Antonio Banderas and Mean Girls with Rachel McAdams and Lindsay Lohan where she plays the much-memed "You can always try Sears" saleslady. Jo returned to Hong Kong in 2009 and last appeared onstage as Annette in Theatre du Pif's God of Carnage at the HK Cultural Centre.
Erita Lee Acham Chen
With her successful performance at the 2017 Marco Polo Goes to Carnival, Erita Chen is taking on a new challenge this year as the Chinese Danseur in the production.
Erita has performed on RTHK television program 'The Works' and won a number of prizes locally and abroad, including the Award of Excellence from Goh Ballet, the prestigious Canadian ballet institution. She was also the only dancer from Hong Kong who participated at the American Ballet Theater New York Summer Intensive in 2018.
She has studied with world-renowned pedagogues and prima ballerinas such as Leslie Browne, Chan Hon Goh, Cynthia Harvey and Cheryl Yeager. She has also been trained under Jun Mabaquiao and Victoria Vargas, the latter having choreographed and coached Erita for the 2017 Marco Polo Goes to Carnival. Erita was previously a student at the Hong Kong Youth Ballet Academy. In 2018, she was selected to join the Gifted Young Dancer Program of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Erita is currently a student at the Hong Kong International School. She was recently a middle school recipient of the Presidential Academic Excellence Award sponsored by the US Department of Education and the US President's office. Besides dancing, Erita is also an avid singer and artist in Chinese painting.
Victoria Vargas
A native of Venezuela, Victoria Vargas began her training at the School of Ballet Nacional of Cuba and Venezuela. She worked with the Venezuelan National Ballet Company, the San Francisco Opera House, Dallas Opera House, the Lyric Opera House of Chicago and the Luna Negra Dance Theater, which she founded.
Apart from appearing on stage, Vargas has proved herself a prominent ballet teacher. She is a former faculty at the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. She is also an Artistic Associate for Elements Contemporary Ballet. Vargas earned a nomination by the City of Chicago as one of the most prominent Latinas in the expansion of educational programs for dancers.
Vargas has also taught in St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, Madrid and Seville, Ballet De Panama, Ballet De Jalisco Guadalajara and Academy of Arts Ciudad de Mexico, Hong Kong and Portugal. During 2014 she taught in the summer program with Dance Master Class (Italy, Spain, Portugal) under the leadership of Angela D'Melo, former principal of the Royal Ballet. Her students are among the finalists of the Youth America Grand Prix International Ballet Competition and the New York finals of the Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition.
Yeung Ching-ho
Yeung Ching Ho Grammy is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong. She is currently a Master's student at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She began her Guzheng training under Chin King in 2004, and is currently under the guidance of Prof. Xu Lingzi. Yeung is also a recipient of the Rayson Huang Scholarship in Music at the University of Hong Kong, as well as the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund Scholarship.
As a frequent winner of competitions, Yeung was the champion of Intermediate, Senior and Advanced levels of Zheng solo and the first runner up of the RTHK Radio 4 Chinese at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. She was also a winner in the 6th Hong Kong Students Open Music Competition and received the silver medal in The First International Zheng Contest's B amateur group.
Yeung was one of the finalists in Young Music Makers 2017 of RTHK 4. She was featured in Musicus Society's concerts, including the Musicus Heritage Community Concert, the Children's concerts of Musicus Fest 2017 and 2018, as well as the filming of The Works at RTHK. She was also invited by RTHK to participate in the STEAM workshop for children. In 2019, Yeung was invited to present solo recitals at Tai Kwun and the Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery. In addition, she was selected by Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra's "Music Integrates" programme and gave her solo recital entitled Zheng Unveiled this June.
Yen Liang-pei
Yen Liang-pei is an actress from Taiwan. She has lived and studied performing in Paris at L'École Philippe Gaulier. She also has background in physical theater, clown, bouffon, and commedia dell'arte. Yen returned to Taiwan in 2013, and founded PHi Acting Laboratory with her creative partner Wu Zong-en in 2014. They continue to collaborate with the different artists from different countries, including directors, dancers and musicians. Since 2015, group has toured Taiwan with the cabaret show, Girls Talk, which targets to give 50 performances in total.
In recent years, Yen has performed in the monodrama, Pan Jinlian, which was part of the Dulan Sugar Refinery Residency Project. In 2017, Yen was featured in the War and Peace Picture Book Concert in the Taiwan Festival in Macau. She has also performed in the experimental theater piece entitled Guns and Flowers with Point View Art of Macau.
Apart from her interest in new forms of theater, Yen also extended her interest in commedia dell'arte. She has participated in the commedia dell'arte workshops by Antonio Fava, as well as that organized by ESP-I Performing Arts Group in Taiwan. Yen also made her Musicus Fest debut in the Children's Concert Marco Polo Goes to Carnival last year.
Sophie Klussmann
The German soprano Sophie Klussmann, a student of Thomas Quastoff and Margaret Honig, has a warm, wide-ranging and dark-hued voice; though lyric in nature, it has dramatic potential that can assert itself without strain against a large orchestra. Rapidly building an international reputation as an operatic and concert performer in a diversity of styles and repertoire, Klussmann has sung the major roles in her Fach at the Halle Opera in Germany. She sang the role of Pamina from The Magie Flute at Berlin's Seefestspiele and covered Anna Netrebko as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Baden Baden Opera Festival.
The composers Christian Jost and Edward Rushton have written operatic roles for Klussmann and she took the female lead opposite John Malkovich in his theatre piece The Giacomo Variations. In concert, she has collaborated with conductors like Marek Janowski, Ingo Metzmacher, Hulmut Rilling, Michael Sanderling and Karl-Heinz Steffens in works by Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler, and with leading figures in the field of historically informed performance, such as Marcus Creed, Václav Luks and Martin Haselböck. In the chamber and song repertoire, she has a particular passion for music from the late 19th and the early 20th centuries.
Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli
A highly selective musician, Michaelanangeli favors collaborating with orchestras which share his musical and human ideals.
After a very precocious initiation to studying music, under the tutorship of his aunt Nuccia Matucci, he has studied at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatoire in Milan with Maestri Conter, Bettinelli and Gusella. Michalangeli later completed his coaching under the notable guidance of Maestro Franco Ferrara.
Michaelangeli has worked with such orchestras including Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Camerata Academica Salzburg, Operaballet Vlaaderen Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Goteborg Symfoniker, Budapest Festival Orchestra, China National Orchestra and Israel Chamber Orchestra. Moreover, he has established a special relationship with Kammerorchester Basel for many years.
His long-standing collaboration with Orchestra da Camera di Mantova (of which he was the Principal Conductor from 1984 to 2007) is a milestone in his career, and enabled him to be granted the Franco Abbati proze, awarded by the Association of Italian Music Critics.
Hannah Tam
Currently a student at St. Paul's Co-educational College, 12-year-old Hannah Tam was admitted to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts at the age of 5. With full scholarship from the Academy, she now studies the violin with Professor Michael Ma and collaborative piano with Maria Jee.
Hannah has been a prize-winner since the age of 6. In 2012, Hannah won the Japan-Hong Kong International Music Competition. She was the champion of the Violin Concerto in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival in 2015. Last year, she won the First Prize (Junior Professional category) in the 6th Hong Kong International Violin Competition; the First Prize (Age 8-11 category) and the Grand Prize at the Andrea Postacchini International Competition in Italy; as well as the Second Prize (senior professional category) in the Bravo! International Violin Competition in San Diego. Hannah's recent triumph at the 17th international violin competition Kulturstiftung Hohenlohe in Germany made her the first Hong Kong winner in the history of this event.
Hannah was invited to perform as a soloist with Virtuosi Italiani Chamber Orchestra in Verona, Italy. She also received a full scholarship to study at the Music Academy in San Diego in the summer of 2017. In addition, Hannah performed at the Musicus Fest 2017 with world-renowned cellist Trey Lee and the Mantua Chamber Orchestra. Recently, Hannah has performed Mozart's Violin Concerto No.3 with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, under the baton of Nicholas Carter.
Hannah plays a 1826 Joannes Franciscus Pressenda violin, kindly provided by Alfredo Primavera.
Mauro Borgioni
Baritone Mauro Borigioni is a specialist in Baroque repertoire. He has sung the roles of Orfeo and Apollo in L'Orfeo by Monteverdi; Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas by Purcell; and Astolfo in Oralndo Furioso by Vivaldi. His repertoire includes masterpieces like Christmas Oratorio, St. Matthew's Passion and St. John's Passion, and Mass in B Minor by J. S. Bach; Handel's Messiah as well as sacred masterpieces by Haydn Mozart and Fauré.
Borgioni is also active in contemporary repertoire, most notably for his performances in Benjamin Britten's Curlew River and Noye's Fludde with Prato Chamber Orchestra and Johnatan Webb. He has also sung the role Aye in Akhnaten by Philip Glass with the Orchestra of Teatro Regio in Turin led by Dante Anzolini.
Borgoni has collaborated with various orchestras and ensembles in Europe. He has also sung in some of the most important halls and theaters including Wien Konzerthaus, Teatro Regio Torino, Cité de la Musique Paris, Kolner Philharmonie, Auditorium de Madrid, National Centre for Arts of Beijing. Borigioni has participated in various festivals and concert seasons in Europe, the Americas and Canada. He has recorded for Alpha-Prod, Brilliant Classics, Stradivarius, K617, Glossa, fra Bernardo, Ricercar.
Jan Söderblom
Söderblom was born into a family of musicians in Helsinki. Now a conductor and violinist, he began giving concerts at an early stage in his violin studies.
Aside from solo appearances at a young age, successful touring with New Helsinki Quartet and his growing interest towards orchestral musicianship built the foundation for Söderblom's versatile and innovative career. Conductor studies at Sibelius Academy led to intensive projects with top orchestras. Söderblom has since conducted orchestras such as Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Avanti!, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orquesta RTVE, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, MDR Sinfonieorkester (Leipzig), Danish National Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra KORK, Norrköping and Helsingborg symphony orchestras and Orchestra National Bordeaux Aquitane, among others. During 2001-2008 Söderblom served as Artistic Director of Lappeenranta City Orchestra. From 2012 to 2016 Söderblom was the conductor of Pori Sinfonietta.
In the Swedish Royal Opera Söderblom has conducted The Makropulos Affair by Leoš Janáček as well as two first performances, Sport och fritid (2005) by Thomas Jennefelt and, in cooperation with Norrlandsoperan, Svall (2006) by Daniel Börtz. He also conducted the much talked-about first performance of Veli-Matti Puumala's opera Anna Liisa at Helsinki Festival in 2008. Söderblom has conducted several ballet productions at Finnish National Opera, as well as Fredrik Pacius' opera Kung Karls jakt.
Before his career as conductor took off, Söderblom performed as a violinist, mainly with New Helsinki Quartet (1982-2001). After the quartet won competitions of Viitasaari, Concertino Praga and second prize in the London String Quartet Competition, they toured widely and performed in Wigmore Hall, Tonhalle Zürich, Herkulessaal in Munich, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Konzerthaus in Berlin. As a soloist he has shared the stage with several Finnish orchestras such as Swedish Radio Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and many others.
Söderblom has been the Artistic Director of several Finnish music festivals; currently he is in charge of the artistic planning of the Festivo Rauma and Kauniaisten musiikkijuhlat.
Söderblom has played as guest concertmaster for several orchestras and joined Camerata Salzburg and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra on stage as guest member. Since 2015, Söderblom is the first concertmaster of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
Tsai Loo
Tsai Loo obtained his Bachelor of Music degree and Professional Diploma at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), studying with Alice Waten, the former Head of Strings, Michael Ma and Chao Bee-darn.
During his studies there, he was awarded the Ricci Scholarship for Violin Performance and Exxon Scholarship. As a chamber musician he has played a recital with his Trio for RTHK and gave a performance at the Government House. In the summers of 1992, 1994 and 1996, he joined the Asian Youth Orchestra and toured Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. In 1995, Tsai was selected to participate in the recording of the HKAPA's 10th Anniversary recording.
Tsai is currently Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta.
Xu Ting
Born in Wuhan, China, Xu Ting began studying the piano at the age of four. She was later admitted to the Wuhan Conservatory of Music to study cello under Prof. Long Man in 2002. She entered The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts to further her studies under Prof. Ray Wang in 2010 with full scholarship. After graduating from the Bachelor's degree of Music program with first class honors in 2015, she is now pursing her Master of Music degree at the Academy.
She has won multiple competitions including the First Prize at the Beijing Great Wall International Music Festival Concerto Competition, Second Prize at the Cross-Strait (Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Canton) Cello Competition (Young Professional Category) and the Special Prize at the 6th National Cello Competition in China and is currently a recipient of the VM Strings Scholarship. She has also appeared as soloist with the Academy Symphony Orchestra and Beijing Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Xu participated in master classes with David Geringas, Laurence Lesser, Steven Isserlis, Carter Brey, Bion Tsang, Liwei Qin and Sadao Harada. As a member of the Gloucester String Quartet, graduate quartet in residence of the Academy, she joined master classes held by the Shanghai, Szymanowski, Penderecki, Chilingirian, Endellion, Miró, Debussy and Miami string quartets.
Xu plays an 1836 Simon Andrew Forster of London on loan from the Society of The Academy for Performing Arts (SAPA).
Juha Hostikka
Juha Hostikka is the lead vocalist and leader of the Dallapé ensemble, which is the longest-operating dance music band in all of Europe and was established in 1925. Apart from his work with Dallapé,Hostikka is known for his numerous roles in operas and musicals. Juha Hostikka has performed as the lead vocalist for many symphony orchestras, and at many festivals around Finland and Europe, such as Savonlinna Opera Festival, The Proms in London, Pori Jazz, Sata-Häme Soi Accordion Festival, Naantali Music Festival and Seinäjoki Tango Festival.
With the Dallapé ensemble, Juha Hostikka has released records under Blue Note and Sony.
Juha Hostikka has studied singing at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki under the tuition of Erkki Rajamäki and Peter Lindroos. Internationally, he has studied, for example in France with François Le Roux, in England with Peter Maxwell-Anderson, and in Germany with Mitsuko Shirai and Hartmut Höll.
Hostikka's love for singing was sparked by his very first teacher, the legendary Finnish tango singer Reijo Taipale, and to this day, Hostikka is particularly passionate about tango music and older popular music.
The Finnish Musicians' Union has awarded Hostikka for his impressive musical career and significant contribution to Finnish popular music. In 2015, the Finnish President Sauli Niinistö invited Hostikka to the Presidential Independence Day Ball to recognize his efforts of continuing the prestigious work of Dallapé.
Patrick Yeung
Patrick Yeung received his Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from The University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 2017. He also took Advanced Music Performance course offered by the Department of Music in HKU and studied the harmonica with Lee Chun-lok.
Yeung has performed in various settings, ranging from busking and theatrical productions, to outdoor carnivals and concert hall performances. In 2016, Yeung collaborated with the renowned cellist Trey Lee in "Shared Stage: Trey Lee & HKU musicians." Yeung was also invited by Musicus Society perform in the Musicus Heritage concert in the same year, in which he shared the stage with celebrated Finnish vocalist Juha Hostikka and accordion player Niko Kumpuvaara.
Yeung has won several awards in Hong Kong and overseas. He was a winner in the Hong Kong School Music Festival and Hong Kong Joint School Harmonica Competition. In 2017, Yeung participated the Seoul International Festival and was named Champion in both Adult Solo (Chromatic Harmonica) and Duo categories. He was also selected as one of the Young Music Makers by RTHK4 in the same year. In 2018, Yeung became the champion and the second runner-up in the Open Duo and Open Solo Chromatic Harmonica categories at the 12th Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival held in Beijing.
Niko Kumpuvaara
Niko Kumpuvaara is one of Finland's most renowned contemporary accordionists.
Kumpuvaara is known for working diversely in music — regardless of traditional genre restrictions. With primary focus in contemporary accordion music, he has premiered music by Patrick Busseuil, Ere Lievonen, Lauri Kilpiö, Pasi Lyytikäinen and Jimmy Lopez. As a soloist, he has performed with Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Oulu Symphony, Vogtland Philharmonie, St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Insomnio and coveted military orchestra Guards Band. He is also member of the legendary Finnish dance music orchestra Dallapé.
Kumpuvaara has won awards in several international competitions, such as 1st prize in The Klingenthal International Accordion Competition, regarded as the most prominent accordion competition in the world, in 2005, and 3rd prize in the Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition, the biggest international contemporary music competition for all instruments, in 2007.
In addition to working as a musician, Kumpuvaara was appointed as the Adjunct Professor of accordion at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz in 2009. He operated as the Art Director of Oulu Music Festival from 2008 to 2012, and at the moment he is on his fourth year as the Art Director of renowned accordion festival Sata-Häme Soi.
Kumpuvaara studied at the Sibelius Academy under Marjut Tynkkynen, completing his music master's degree in 2008, his teachers include Matti Rantanen, Iñaki Alberdi and Timo Kinnunen.
Chu Sui-ming
Chu Sui-ming, concert pianist and teacher of Dalcroze Eurhythmics, recently attained her Bachelor of Arts in music and movement from Haute École Specialisée de Suisse Occidentale: Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva. She is the only Hong Kong-Chinese to have attained such a qualification.
Chu has taught Dalcroze Eurhythmics courses in Europe and in Hong Kong, and developed her cross-media performance style, inter-relating music with dance, poetry,painting and drama. She founded the Hong Kong Dalcroze Music Center in 2012 with a mission to spread eurhythmics in Hong Kong.
Martin Heyes
Martin Heyes was brought up and educated near Liverpool, UK. Upon completion of his GCE "A" levels, he entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was subsequently served in the British Army as an infantry officer in the UK and Germany.
After leaving the Army in 1975, Heyes joined the (then) Royal Hong Kong Police Force and served for 26 years, before retiring in the rank of Chief Inspector. Throughout his service he served predominantly in the uniform branch in various Districts and Regions, including the (then) Marine District. Heyes has first-hand experience and fond memories at the Marine Police Headquarters, since he was trained and has served there when it was functioning.
After retirement from the Police, Heyes worked for nearly 7 years as the manager of the local security guard project at the United States Consulate-General in Hong Kong.
Heyes is an accredited a tour guide recognized by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong. He now works part-time for a local company specialising in both urban and rural walks of the territory for tourists and local residents.
Dr. Au Hin-fung
Dr. Au Hin-fung received his Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in History, Master of Social Sciences (Contemporary China Studies) and Doctor of Philosophy from the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU).
Dr. Au has been Heritage Assistant at Antiquities and Monuments Office and Research Associate at HKBU Department of History, and currently works at HKBU's History Gallery Project as Research Associate.
His research interest focuses on cultural exchange in East Asia, with emphasis on the history of publishing in modern China. He also has worked on the architectural history of Hong Kong and Canton area.
Tapiola Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble
The Tapiola Sinfonietta has a discography of more than 60 titles on the BIS, Ondine and Naxos labels, many of which have received critical acclaim. Its recording of Magnus Lindberg's Violin Concerto with violinist Pekka Kuusisto in 2014 was chosen by French music magazine Classicaas as the "Choc de l'Année" (Record of the Year); its Anna Liisa (2015) opera recording in 2015 with director Jan Söderblom was Editor's Choice in Grammophone and Helsingin Sanomat (the main newspaper in Finland).
Tapiola Sinfonietta Woodwind Quintet
No matter how high your expectations are, these players will always outperform them. There is no such a thing as disappointment with these artists…" – Bachtrack
David Theodore
David Theodore studied the oboe at the Royal Academy, London and at the age of twenty was appointed Principal Oboe in the BBC Welsh Orchestra. Since then he has held various London positions including Principal in the BBC Symphony, The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the London Philharmonic where he was Principal for twenty years and has worked with Christopher Warren-Green for many years.
He has recorded the Mozart Oboe Concerto and the Vaughan Williams Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra for Chandos Records. He has recorded the soundtrack for many films, including Lord of the Rings,Harry Potter and the James Bond movies. Theodore is a professor of the oboe at the Royal College of Music and has also been appointed a Fellow of both the Royal Academy and the Guildhall School of Music.
Meyrick Alexander
Before taking up his position as Head of Woodwind at Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 2010, Meyrick Alexander had held the position of Principal Bassoon in the Philharmonia Orchestra since 1980, before which he was a member of several leading orchestras including the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra and the Northern Sinfonia.
Meyrick is Principal Bassoon of the London Chamber Orchestra and has played period instruments with John Eliot Gardiner's Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique. He is a regular guest principal with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has performed extensively as a chamber musician and as a guest with nearly every British symphony and chamber orchestra, and is also a regular soloist at the annual International Double Reed Conference in the USA, Australia and the UK.
In contemporary music, he is the dedicatee of a number of solo works and has performed with the London Sinfonietta. He has been a member of the teaching staff at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Birmingham Conservatoire, and the Royal Northern College of Music and he regularly gives master classes and recitals at all the leading conservatoires in Britain and several in Europe, Australia, USA and the Middle and Far East. He has also served on the jury on three major international competitions.
Chen Yeung-ping
Yeung-ping Chen is a Hong Kong-born composer. Over the course of his career, Chen has been awarded several prestigious prizes, including scholarships from Hong Kong (CASH Music Scholarship for Oversea Studies, and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund) and grants from the International Summer Course in Darmstadt, Germany, the Harry and Alice Eiler Foundation, Diane Lin Memorial scholarship from the Friends of the International Center, Nee Commission Award, and Altius Fellowship from Asian Cultural Council in the United States.
Chen was composer-fellow for the Ensemble 2010 Project in Darmstadt, the International Ensemble Modern Academy in 2011, and June in Buffalo 2012. He has also worked with Christopher Rountree, Steven Schick, Marino Formenti, Mark Dresser, Susan Narucki, Alice Teyssier, Jessica Aszodi, James Cuddeford, Yuki Numata, Jeffrey Milarsky, the Mivos Quartet, the JACK Quartet, UMS n' JIP (Switzerland), Tactus Ensemble (Manhattan School of Music), Red Fish Blue Fish, Ensemble Dal Niente (Chicago), Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, La Jolla Symphony Orchestra, and the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong.
Chen earned his degrees at the Hong Kong Baptist University, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.Chen is currently a doctoral candidate at the UCLA, with research focusing on telematic musical composition and hyper-transcriptional compositional process "Sonic Engraving" under the supervision of Prof. Lei Liang.
Elpidio Magat
Elpidio Magat joined Ballet Manila in June 2005. His repertoire includes The Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Pinocchio, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, La Fille mal gardée, Romeo and Juliet, Le Corsaire, Les Sylphides, Giselle and Sleeping Beauty.
Magat won the Silver medal (Pas de deux division) of the 3rd Asian Grand Prix competition in Hong Kong. He was also a semi­finalist in the 2nd Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition (Pas de deux division) held in China in July 2013.
Magat was part of Ballet Manila's delegation to the 9th Yeosu International Youth Cultural Festival in Korea. He has also represented the Philippines in international performances, including East Meets West UK and Ireland in 2011, the 2011 Gyeongju World Culture Expo in Korea, and the Gyeongju Silk Road Festival in Korea in 2015.
David Ho-yi Chan
David Ho-Yi Chan (b.1992) is a young composer, conductor and organist born in Hong Kong. Along his profound interest in exploring harmonic syntax, Chan's music seeks to enrich the beauty of simplicity and exemplifies solid practical writings with a clear sense of direction building and consistency by integrating both contemporary and traditional concepts. Highlighted commissioners and collaborators include BBC Singers, Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Choir of St Pancras Church, Hong Kong Oratorio Society, Hong Kong Strings, RTHK Quartet, Hong Kong Children's Choir, Yat Po Singers, Romer (String Quartet), Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong Youth Windophilics among others.
Chan graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Music, with organ study under the tutelage of Kin-Yu Wong and composition studies under the tutelage of Victor Chan, Wendy Wan-Ki Lee and Hau-Man Lo. Between 2014 and 2017, Chan was invited to present his works in various international conferences and music festivals.
Chan graduated from the Royal College of Music where he obtained a Master of Composition under the tutelage of Joseph Horovitz and Kenneth Hesketh, and studied organ under the tutelage of Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin and David Graham. During his study in London, he had been served as the Director of Music at John Keble Church. Notably, Chan led the choir for serving in the choral evensong with the Bishop of London during the Patronal Festival for commemorating the 150th anniversary of John Keble's death.
Minna Pensola
Minna Pensola performs extensively as a chamber musician and soloist collaborating with conductors such as Sakari Oramo, Olari Elts, Eva Ollikainen and John Storgårds. She is a founding member of the most internationally successful Finnish string quartet Meta4 which is the first prize winner of the Dimitri Shostakovich String Quartet Competition (Moscow 2004) and the Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition (Vienna 2007). Meta4 performs regularly in key music capitals and concert halls around the world.
Minna Pensola is a co-founder of The Punavuori Chamber Music Society, and runs a club for classical music in her home town Helsinki since 2008. She has also acted as the Artistic Director of the Sysmä Summer Sounds Festival in Finland during years 2006-2012. Pensola teaches violin at the Sibelius Academy and is a guest tutor at European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA).
Pensola has studied at the Sibelius Academy, Musikhochschule Zürich and European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) and enjoyed valuable guidance of Kaija Saarikettu, Ana Chumachenko, Hatto Beyrle and Josef Rissin.
Minna Pensola plays the Carlo Bergonzi violin (1732) kindly on loan from Signe ja Ane Gyllenberg Foundation.
In her free time she looks and cleans after her two small daughters who's impeccable logic keeps her in constant marvelling.
Joan Emery Sia
Joan Emery Sia joined Ballet Manila in June 2009. She was a finalist in the 2010 National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), Senior Division. In August 2013, she won the Silver medal in the Pas de deux division of the 3rd Asian Grand Prix competition in Hong Kong.
Joan has danced major roles of classical ballet, including the title roles in Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Paquita, and Blue Bird in Sleeping Beauty.
Joan was part of Ballet Manila's international performances including Ballet Under the Stars in Singapore in 2011. She has also appeared in the Gyeongju Silk Road Festival in Korea in 2015, and in the 40th Anniversary of Philippine Vietnam International Friendship Day in Vietnam in 2016.
The Trondheim Soloists
Founded in 1988, the Trondheim Soloists has since established itself as one of the most distinguished ensembles in Norway, carving out its own musical territory with passion, perfection and raw intensity. The ensemble has won international recognition for its own distinctively open and clear orchestral sound, described by the British music magazine Classic FM as "The Trondheim Sound". The ensemble is also a three-time winner of the Spellemannpriser (Norwegian music awards), boasting an impressive resume of ten Grammy nominations as well as glowing international reviews with an addition of four recordings.
The year 1999 saw the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with the illustrious violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, which included concerts, tours and recordings. The ensemble's best-selling release to date has been Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, with Mutter as soloist on the Deutsche Grammophon label (with approximately 700,000 records sold). This has contributed to the orchestra's growing reputation at home and abroad, leading to an increasing number of engagements. The orchestra has performed with leading artists not only in classical music, but also in jazz, folk music, rock and pop.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Geir Inge Lotsberg since 2017, the ensemble continues to develop the virtuosity and confidence that allow them to play what they want, when they want, and to take chances rather than play safe. Members of the Trondheim Solosists also devote their time to the development of musical talent and the fostering of an enduring musical environment in their home town. The promotion of Norwegian music and of contemporary music is also a strong commitment. The ensemble never travels abroad without Norwegian music on its program, and it has premiered about 50 works specially written for the orchestra.
Zheng Yang
Zheng Yang received his Master's degree with distinction from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), where he studied under Prof. Michael Ma. Zheng was the first violin of the Gloucester String Quartet and the concertmaster of the Academy Symphony Orchestra. He was also a two-time winner of the concerto competition at the Academy.
Zheng was also selected to perform at a number of master classes organized by the Academy and the Hong Kong Arts Festival, including Silvia Rosenberg, Donald Weilerstein, Earl Carlyss, Günter Pichler, Gerhard Schulz, James Dunham, Ning Feng, Cho-Liang Lin, Dan Zhu, Leonidas Kavakos and Renaud Capuçon.
Zheng is also a devoted chamber musician. With the Gloucester String Quartet, he received First prize in the 1st Schoenfeld International String Competition in 2013. In 2015, the Quartet represented the HKAPA to perform in a ten-day tour to the Royal Academy of Music and the Wells Cathedral School in the UK. In 2016, they collaborated the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble to participate in Tongyeong International Music Festival. The Quartet has also participated in the McGill International String Quartet Academy in Montreal. In 2017, the Quartet was invited to participate in the HKSAR 20th anniversary concert series in London, organized by the Hong Kong Government. They also took part in the prestigious Aspen music festival in Colorado on full scholarship.
Zheng is currently chamber music coach and violin teacher at the Junior Music Department of the HKAPA.
Pan Ya-sze
Pan Ya-sze began studying the Yangqin at the Hong Kong Music Office in 1981 under Chan Kei-cham. She was a member of the Hong Kong Youth Chinese Orchestra and has toured to Singapore, Australia, USA, Canada, Italy and Germany. She obtained her Bachelor degree of Arts in Music from the Acadia University in Canada and Master of Education from the University of Hong Kong.
A member of the Chinese Music Virtuosi since 1997, Pan has appeared in Musicus Fest 2013 and 2014. She has also participated in the productions of When Petals Fall in Serenity and Beyond the Senses in Atmospheric Music Theatre by Law Wing-fai, as well as Hong Kong Odyssey in the 45th Hong Kong Arts Festival. Other recent performances include music collaboration with the East-West Center of Hawaii and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Alexander Sitkovetsky
Alexander Sitkovetsky was born into a family with a well-established musical tradition in Moscow. His concerto debut came at the age of eight, the same year he moved to the UK to study at the Menuhin School. Lord Menuhin was his inspiration throughout his school years and they performed together on several occasions, including the Bach Double Concerto, Bartók Duos at St. James' Palace, and performing the Mendelssohn concerto under Menuhin's baton.
Sitkovetsky has performed with major orchestras in the UK, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin's in the Fields, London Mozart Players, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and Moscow Symphony Orchestra. In recent years, Sitkovetsky has been featured with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and Orquesta Filarmónica de Bolivia.
Sitkovetsky is a regular guest soloist in nationwide tours of the UK, including tours with the Brussels Philharmonic and St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also toured as guest director with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Highlights this season include engagements with the Arctic Symphony Orchestra, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra, English Symphony Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, and a return to Camerata Salzburg.
Sitkovetsky has shared the stage with leading artists, such as Julia Fischer, Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Julian Rachlin, Maxim Rysanov, Alexander Chaushian, Mischa Maisky, Natalie Clein, Eric Le Sage, Polina Leschenko and many others. He also performs regularly with the Razumovsky Ensemble and the Ensemble RARO.
Sitkovetsky was awarded first prize at the Trio di Trieste Duo Competition alongside pianist Wu Qian, with whom he subsequently embarked on a twenty-concert tour in Italy in addition to a recital at the Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall. He is a founding member of the award-winning Sitkovetsky Piano Trio, including the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Kammermusik Prize. The Trio has performed all over the UK and Europe including Alte Oper Frankfurt, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Wigmore Hall. They have recently completed a second successful tour of Australia to much critical acclaim.
Sitkovetsky was a recipient of the 2016 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award.
Emilia Amper
Emilia Amper is one of Sweden's most sought-after folk musicians. An expert and tradition bearer of Swedish music, especially that of her native Småland region, Amper was crowned world champion on the nyckelharpa in 2010. With her charisma, virtuosity and energy, Amper moves with ease across stylistic boundaries and touches people in venues across the world.
Amper has been an active since 1995, establishing herself as a freelance musician, singer, composer and teacher. Amper has performed many times on Swedish national TV and radio. She has toured extensively in Scandanvia and continental Europe, as well as in the UK, Ireland, China, USA, Canada, Namibia, India, Iran and Brazil with various groups, including the Emilia Amper Band, The Forbidden Orchestra, ODE, Frode Haltli's "The border woods", Furebotten-Amper-Haltli trio and many more. She has performed with the Swiss flamenco company Flamencos en route at Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Germany. In addition, Amper has also appeared as a soloist with classical orchestras such as The Trondheim Soloists, Västerås Sinfonietta, Musica Vitae, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Nordica and Brandenburger Philharmonie, and with various pop, rock and jazz musicians.
Amper won the Norwegian Grammy Spellemannsprisen in 2010 for best classical album, together with the Trondheim soloists and their album In folk style, and was nominated for two American Grammy Awards. In 2013, Emilia won both Artist of the Year and the Crossover Artist of the Year at the Swedish Folk & World Music Awards. Emilia's solo debut album, Trollfågeln (The Magic Bird) was released in the same year by BIS Records, where Emilia is the sole folk artist. The album was nominated for both a Swedish Grammy, the Manifest awards and the Swedish Folk & World Music Awards. Amper's further accolades included the prestigious NPU Prize by SKAP (Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers and Authors) and its Nordic sister organizations, and she was named the Riksspelman ("National fiddler of the realm"). In 2016, Amper released her second solo album, Lux, which features music for nyckelharpa, voice, string ensemble and percussion.
Amper is currently touring worldwide with her various folk bands as well as making exciting projects with different classical orchestras and composing new music. Apart from a busy performance roster, Amper is also a regular teacher at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. She also teaches as guest lecturer at various other music colleges in the Nordic countries, and gives workshops and courses all over the world.
Eugene Pao
Eugene Pao is Hong Kong's most publicly recognized jazz musician and his name is synonymous with jazz in our city.
Hong Kong first discovered its own guitar hero in the mid 1980's when Pao returned from studies in the U.S. and began playing around town. Recognition came early from collaborations with leading international jazz musicians. Pao's first solo album featured bassist Eddie Gomez, blues great Jimmy Witherspoon and saxophonist Michael Brecker.
Over the last three decades, Pao has established himself as Hong Kong's premier jazz guitarist. He continues to travel the world for performances at international jazz festivals, concert halls and jazz clubs, and to take part in selected recording projects. Jazz greats with whom he has performed on stage over the years include Terumasa Hino, Bob Berg, Ulf Wakenius, Ernie Watts, Martin Taylor, James Moody, Bill Bruford, Jeff Berlin, Bobby McFerrin, Eric Marienthal, Richard Galliano, Georgie Fame, Laura Fygi and many more.
Notable appearances include the "Asian Super Guitar Project" in 2006, in which Pao teamed up with two other guitarists, Kazumi Watanabe from Japan and Jack Lee from Korea. The unique guitar trio made a record entitled Guitar Sam Guk Ji and toured around Asia throughout 2007. For two consecutive years of 2008 and 2009, Pao was invited by The Hong Kong Trade & Economic Office to perform on a nine-city European tour to promote Hong Kong as their jazz ambassador.
Since 2010, Pao has formed the Asian All Stars Power Jazz Quartet with three other top jazz musicians from Asia. From 2012 to 2016, the Quartet was invited to perform in the Singapore Jazz Festival, JAVA Jazz Festival in Jakarta and the Macau Jazz Week. The combo also toured Europe in 2014, performing at the London Jazz Festival as well as the legendary Jazz club, Jazzkeller in Frankfurt.
In addition, Pao was also featured as soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic in 2013 and 2015. He also performed with Italian organist Alberto Marsico, Jeremy Monteiro and the Jazz Blues Brothers at the Elgar Room of the Royal Albert Hall in London, as guest performers of the 2016 London Jazz Festival.
Pao was featured him on the cover of the recent issue of Re:spect. He was also featured in the 20th anniversary issue of the Esquire magazine, as one of the 20 most influential men. As a composer, Pao has contributed music to countless TV commercials, and his film soundtracks have been nominated for best original score at the HK Film Awards. Pao has been invited by PRS guitar to join their artist endorsement program, with a signature guitar customized especially for him.
Cheong Hoi-leong
Born in Macau, Cheong Hoi-leong has received a scholarship from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts to study with Professor Gabriel Kwok. He is currently studying at the Curtis Institute of Music on full scholarship under the tutelage of Robert McDonald.
Cheong's recent accolades include first prizes in the prestigious 19th International Chopin Piano Competition in Asia and the 81st Steinway and Sons International Youth Piano Competition, which resulted in a recital engagement at the Beijing Steinway Hall. He was also a finalist in the 2017 Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Cheong's previous awards include the Felix Mendelssohn Award in the ICoM Piano Award 2016 International Competition Hamburg Composers, the Gold Medal Award and Tom Lee Music Scholarship Award in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, as well as prizes from competitions in Hong Kong and Macao. Cheong has been the recipient of the 'Most Talented Prize' by the Macao Cultural Affairs Bureau on more than one occasion.
Cheong made his orchestral debut at the age of 9 with the Macao Orchestra. Further collaborations include the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in USA and the Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra in Macao and Paris. Cheong was a member of the St. Paul's Co-educational College Piano Quintet. The ensemble has organized a charity concert, Quintessentially Chamber, for the Music Children Foundation in September 2016.
Brian Choi
Violinist Brian Choi is a recent graduate of Donald Weilerstein's studio at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he completed his Master's degree. Choi has won numerous prizes, including the first prizes in the New York International Artists Association (NYIAA), the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition in 2017. Choi is also a winner of the 2018 Young Artist Audition of Musicus Society and made his Musicus Fest debut in the same year.
Choi has been active in the concert circuit in recent years. He is a frequent participant at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Maine. In 2017, he was invited to give a recital in Paesaggi Musicali Toscani with the legendary pianist Bruno Canino and made his debut recital in Carnegie Hall as the winner of the NYIAA in September. Choi has also been featured in the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. His recent performance as soloist with the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra in October has met with enthusiastic acclaim.
Choi has extensive chamber music experience, studying with renowned artists including Joel Krosnick, Laurie Smukler, Katherine Murdock, Mai Motobuchi, Yeesun Kim, Natasha Brofsky and Vivian Weilerstein. He has also performed in masterclasses including members of the Parker String Quartet, the Emerson String Quartet, and the Szymanowski String Quartet.
Shane Levesque
Canadian keyboardist Shane Levesque completed his DMA in historical performance practice and MA in musicology at Cornell University (Donald J. Grout Memorial Award), his MMus in both piano performance and pedagogy at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University (Pi Kappa Lambda), and his BMus with a double major in piano and organ performance at Brandon University (Lieutenant Governor's Gold Medal). His principal teachers have included Malcolm Bilson, Marian Hahn, and Lawrence Jones, and he was a member of Leon Fleisher's graduate piano seminar.
Shane has performed concerts, lecture recitals, and improvised continuo on original and replica fortepianos, harpsichords, clavichords, and organs in Canada, the United States, England, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Hungary. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Historical Performance Practices at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and he also lectures at The University of Hong Kong.
His recent collaborations include as continuoist for a Le French May programme of Rameau with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and for Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium with Helmut Rilling, and as soloist in Bach's Fifth Brandenburg Concerto with Sir James Galway and The Hong Kong City Chamber Orchestra at City Hall, broadcast on RTHK Radio 4.
His first place performance at the Canadian National Music Festival for the former Governor General of Canada was broadcast on CBC Radio 2, and he also completed a concert tour as a Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Young Artist. He is an international working group member of the Polifonia-Erasmus Network for music education, and a participant in the Association Européenne des Conservatoires (AEC) European Platform for Artistic Research in Music (EPARM), as well as its Early Music Platform. His article on the art of the improvised nineteenth-century piano prelude was published in the Dutch Tijdschrift voor Musiektheorie.
Cass Ho
Violist Cass Ho received her undergraduate degree at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with First Class Honors. Her teachers included John Rogers and the late Wong Wai-ming. Ho has toured in Europe with the Academy Symphony Orchestra. She was a winner of the Academy Concerto Competition and performed Walton's Viola Concerto under the baton of Yuasa Takuo. Ho was also a recipient of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarship, as well as scholarships awarded by the Children's Palace, Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation, Investec and Bloomberg.
Upon her graduation from the Academy, Ho went on to study with Masao Kawasaki for her Master's Degree at the Juilliard School, where she received the C.V. Starr and Louis Smadebeck Scholarships. She was a member of the New Juilliard Ensemble and took part in the Focus! Festival of 2006, in which her performance was reviewed as "well-coached and superb" by the New York Sun Post. Ho has also worked with renowned chamber groups such as the Haydn String Quartet, the Australian String Quartet and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
Ho was featured in performances of the International Society for Contemporary Music. As a member of the Dawning Quartet, she was also invited to perform in the New Generation Competitions in 2017 and 2018, presented by the Hong Kong Composer's Guild and broadcasted on Radio 4. She has also appeared as freelance violist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hong Kong Virtuosi and Opera Hong Kong. Ho also made her Musicus Fest debut in 2018.
Ho is currently on faculty at the Junior Music Department at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Wong Pui-ying
14-year-old Wong Pui-ying began learning the violin at the age of four and obtained her Licentiate Diploma for violin performance from Trinity College London. She is currently under the tutelage of Ms. Lo Kwok Yan at Yip's Children's Choral and Performing Arts Centre.
Pui-ying has won multiple violin competitions in Hong Kong and overseas, including the First Prize in the Junior division and the Grand Prize in the 2nd Hong Kong International Music Festival (HKICM) in 2015; the First Prize of the VII International Yampolsky Vioin Competition (Junior division) in 2017, as well as the First Prize in the IV Yankelevitch International Violin Competition (age 9-15) in 2018.
Pui-ying has been invited to perform as violin soloist with Texas Christian University and the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra in the US. In 2017, Pui-ying was featured in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra. Her recent performances include Mozart's Violin Concerto No.3 and Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen with the Orquesta Ciudad de Alcalá in Madrid, Spain.
Maddalena Recino
Maddalena Recino is an actress with long theatrical experience. An active actress on TV and film, Recino has collaborated with award-winning Italian directors including Federico Fellini, Marco Tullio Giordana and Gabriella Rosaleva, among others.
Recino has aspired to be an actress since a very young age. She began studying classical dance at the age of 11 and moved on to modern dance and jazz later. Recino also attended courses in Argentine tango and in 1998 she participated in a show for the Festival of dance in Rome.
Recino studied theater at Studio Fersen founded by Alessandro Fersen and participated in various workshops with Lindsay Kemp, Francesca De Sapio, Tapa Sudana, Serena Senigallia, Virgilio Sieni and Jurij Alschitz. She began her acting career with the company of Ileana Ghione, playing important roles in classic plays by Shakespeare, Pirandello, Goldoni, Wilde and more.
Recino has a degree in philosophy and teaches theatre. She has conducted various workshops and theatrical productions for children and teenagers. Together with her artistic partner Ursula Volkmann, Recino has been carrying out various projects for children and teenagers at the Swiss and German schools in Rome since 2015, such as workshops, bilingual stage readings and direction of shows. Their recent project was a production of the musical Felicitas at the Swiss school in Rome.
Recino has been a scriptwriter for the Musicus Fest Children's Concert since 2017. She made her Hong Kong debut as director-scriptwriter-actress last year's Children's Concert: Marco Polo Returns to Carnival.
Corinna Cheng
Corinna Cheng is an artist, singer and actress who speaks fluent Cantonese and English. Her parents are missionaries from New Zealand and Australia, her husband is Hong Kong Chinese, and she was born and raised in Hong Kong. She gained recognition in HK for her role in the 2013 TVB drama, Inbound Troubles. In the same year, Corinna won Second Runner-Up in the 2013 TVB artist singing competition, The Voice Of The Stars and released her debut Cantonese album.
Corinna graduated from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts 2006 majoring in Musical Theatre Dance and received The Society of APA Scholarship, Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation Scholarships (Outstanding Awards) and Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarship. Corinna has been filming in numerous programs in TVB since 2008. She has also appeared in many commercial advertisements, theater shows, corporate performances, charity and church events. Corinna has also worked as dancer, dance and vocal instructor, choreographer, model and emcee.
Cindy Shum
A keen performer and singer, Cindy has been on stage since age 8. She was featured in one of the leading roles in the production of Carmen, presented by the Guangzhou Opera House in 2014. From 2014 to 2016, Cindy was selected to represent the Guangzhou Opera House Children's Chorus to participate in the Singapore International Choral Festival and World Choir Games in Sochi, Russia.
Cindy has also performed in musicals. She played the lead role of Princess Jasmine in the biennial musical production of the Chinese International School (Primary division) in 2016 and she has performed in the musical A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2017.
In 2018, Cindy was selected by CCTV to participate in Tung Sheng Chang (Youth Singing), performing the song, 'My Pride'.
Lene Lin
Sonia Shum
Daniel Qiu
Rocky Wan
12-year-old Rocky Wan started to learn Chinese painting when he was 4, which has since developed into a passion. Rocky's painting has been featured in charity auction events. His work, entitled The Monkeys Enjoy Music, was one of the auction items at the Musicus Fundraising Gala Dinner in 2017. This is the first time Rocky created the illustration for the Children's Concert with computer program.
Virginia Wan
Virginia Wan completed her Master's degree in Composition at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under the guidance of Dr. Cheung Pui-shan. Prior to relocating to Hong Kong, Tsang received her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and Theory from the University of Alberta in 2014, where she had studied composition, electronic music, orchestration and piano performance.
Tsang has participated in lessons and workshops in mainland China and overseas, including the 10-day LMCML workshop in Montreal during summer of 2017. Her composition, Free Fall into the Unknown, scored for soprano, flute, cello and improviser, was performed at Concordia University and the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec à Montréal.
Wan's love for animals and deep respect for life has led to the creation of her multimedia composition What We Talk About When We Talk About It. The production took place in April 2018 at the HKAPA studio theatre, featuring live chamber music and drama.
Tsang Lok-yan
Tsang Lok-yan received her Bachelor of Music in Education (Contemporary Music and Performance Pedagogy) from the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) in 2018, where she studied composition with Dr. Leung Chi-hin. Tsang was a recipient of the Artistic Excellence Award (Composition) from EdUHK in 2017 and 2018.
Tsang won the third prize at the New Generation 2016, a competition hosted by the Hong Kong Composers' Guild (HKCG) and RTHK4. She was one of the three winners of the Tennessee Valley Music Festival - Young Composers' Forum 2017. Her work, Ballade Purple, was performed by the Huntsville Youth Orchestra and Orquesta Sinfónica del Mar in the summer of 2017. Her composition, Cupid and Psyche, was featured in "Match Making Concert 2018: Emerging Composers x Emerging Performers" organized by HKCG and RTHK4. Tsang has received her recent commissions from Hong Kong Composers' Guild and Musicus Society.
Tsang is currently pursuing her Master's degree at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Calvin Lai
A native of Hong Kong, Calvin Lai completed his undergraduate studies in music at the Hong Kong Baptist University and further obtained a Master's degree at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. A versatile broadcaster in fine music since 1997, Lai accumulated a range of experiences in all facets of fine music broadcasting at RTHK Radio 4, and produced numerous fine music programmes and cultural events for the community to great acclaim. Becoming a freelance broadcaster after 2013, he continued to be involved in numerous of radio and TV productions. His recent engagements included the host of Musical Exchange for RTHK Radio 4 in 2016 and Music Magic for RTHK DAB31 in 2017, the score advisor for the RTHK TV's live broadcast of the Berliner Philharmoniker's Hong Kong concerts. He is also one of the coaches of the Young Fine Music DJs, a music outreach project for young people, co-presented by the Music Office and the RTHK Radio 4.
During the period of 2013 to 2015, Lai became one of the pioneer teammates in the conservation project of the Haw Par Mansion. Under the Revitalising Historic Buildings through Partnership Scheme of the HKSAR Government, the project aims to revitalise the 1930s-era Haw Par Mansion to provide a cultural environment for music study and as a heritage landmark open to the public. He also actively participates in various music education programmes. He is a regular lecturer of the music appreciation courses organised by the HKU SPACE. He joined the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra as the Senior Programme Manager in 2016 and worked on numerous educational projects in promoting Chinese music. In 2017, he was involved as a lecturer of Musicus Society's outreach workshop and as the project manager in the outreach activities of the Dudamel x Beethoven, a special programme of the Hong Kong Arts Festival.
Lai wrote the educational materials for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra's music educational programme Blossom with Music. He was also a columnist and freelance music critic at Hong Kong Economic Times and Tai Kung Pao. Additionally, he twice acted as the editor for Fine Music magazine for the RTHK Radio 4.
Mark Hui
Mark Hui received his Bachelor's degree with First Class Honors from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and his Master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York. Hui's teachers include Lucie Robert, Prof. Michael Ma, Tsai Loo and the late Wong Wai -ming.
Active as a soloist, Hui has made a number of concerto appearances, including Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Academy Symphony Orchestra, as well as Beethoven's Triple Concerto with Jian Wang, Rachel Cheung and the Hong Kong Festival Orchestra. Hui has also appeared as the concertmaster of the Asian Youth Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra.
Currently the Resident Conductor of the Hong Kong Festival Orchestra, Hui has collaborated with renowned artists including Joshua Bell, Yundi Li and The King's Singers.
The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (SKO) has held a prominent position among international orchestras in the world since its founding by the legendary conductor, Karl Münchinger, in 1945. With its combination of tradition and the spirit of discovery, the SKO has been inspiring for over 70 years.
The SKO established itself as one of the leading exponent for historically-informed performance practice, specializing in works by J.S. Bach and the Viennese classicists. The legacy was carried on by maestros Dennis Russell Davies and Michael Hofstetter. The SKO continued to champion its heritage in authentic performances with live recordings of all 107 symphonies by Joseph Haydn, and at the same time distinguished itself with critically acclaimed performances of contemporary repertoire, including specially commissioned compositions from Phillip Glass, Giya Kancheli, Siegfried Matthus, Helmut Oehring, Milko Kelemen and other notable composers. Matthias Foremny, who has been Principal Conductor since the 2013/2014 season, regularly expands the orchestra's repertoire by rediscovering rarely-heard works from all eras and foraying into the realms of jazz and electronic in the SKO Sternstunden series. Distinguished Austrian violinist Thomas Zehetmair will take up the position as Chief Conductor from the 2019/2020 season.
In addition to ingenious leadership, the SKO has also built its outstanding reputation with a long, illustrious recording tradition, which begun in 1949 for the Decca company. Up until the present day the discography of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra comprises several hundred published recordings. From the Grand Prix du Disque awarded for its release of the complete Bradenburg Concertos in the early years, the SKO's has been a two-time winner of the Edison Award and recipient of the Diaposon d'Or de l'annee and Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics' Award), acknowledged for its masterly recordings of Schütz, J.S. Bach and Mozart.
The SKO has distinguished itself with innumerable remarkable performances, illuminated by incomparable line-up of soloists over the seven decades, including Jacques Thibaud, Yehudi Menuhin, Wilhelm Kempff, Julius Katchen, Arthur Grumiaux, Mstislav Rostropovich, Nathan Milstein and Leonid Kogan, among others. In recent years the orchestra has played with, among others, Rolando Villazón, Fazil Say, Daniel Müller Schott, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Julia Fischer, Ian Bostridge, François Leleux, Xavier de Maistre, Emmanuel Pahud, Martin Fröst and Gautier Capuçon and Hélène Grimaud.
Supported by the Land Baden-Wuerttemberg, the City of Stuttgart and the company Robert Bosch GmbH, the SKO was awarded the 2008 European Chamber Music Prize for its exceptional achievements by the European Cultural Foundation.
Winnie Yiu
Hong Kong born violist Winnie Yiu started learning violin at the age of 11 and later switched to viola. Yiu is currently an undergraduate at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where she studies the viola with Dr. Felix Ungar. Yiu was awarded the Breguet Trey Lee Performing Arts Scholarship by the Academy in 2018.
Yiu has performed in master classes by renowned violists, including Richard O'Neill, Brett Deubner and Lawrence Wheeler, as well as in the Orion Quartet. She has also studied with Scott Lee, Stanley Konopka, Wesley Collins, Lynne Ramsey, Steven Tenenbom, Susan Dubois, Máté Szűcs, Honggang Li. In 2018 and 2019, Yiu was granted full scholarships to participate in the Round Top Summer Festival Institute and the Kent Blossom Music Festival respectively. She has performed under the batons of maestro Carl St. Clair, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Yaniv Dinur, Michelle Merrill, Vladimir Kulenovic, Emilio Colón and Ransom Wilson, among others.
Yiu is active in performances in Hong Kong. She has taken part in concerts and productions by the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong Virtuosi, Gustav Mahler Orchestra, Opera Hong Kong and the 2018 Musicus Fest. As an ensemble student, Yiu has also shared the stage with musicians from Cleveland Orchestra and the Trondheim Soloists.
Pavel Vernikov
Ukrainian violinist Pavel Vernikov has established his reputation as an international virtuoso and esteemed violin pedagogue for the past twenty years. A protégé of David Oistrach and Semyon Snitkosky, Vernikov was a winner at the ARD International Violin Competition in Munich and the "Vittorio Gui" International Violin Competition in Florence. He has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, La Salle Gaveau, La Scala and Santa Cecilia.
In addition to being a member of the Tchaikovsky Trio, Vernikov's artistic partners also included Sviatoslav Richter, Maria Tipo, Christian Zimmermann, Alain Meunier, Christian Ivaldi, Elisso Virsaladze, Oleg Kagan, Andres Mustonen, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Yuri Bashmet, Natalia Gutman, Misha Maisky, Gary Hoffman, Frans Helmerson, James Galway, Patrick Gallois and Anthony Pay and among many others. A founder of the Russian Academy of Higher Learning in Portogruaro, Vernikov was also Artistic Director of the Gubbio Summer Festival, Dubrovnik Chamber Music Festival, Eilat Chamber Music Festival. Since 2013, Vernikov has served as Artistic Director of the Sion Festival in Switzerland.
Vernikov's laureate students include acclaimed violinists such as Nicola Benedetti, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Massimo Quarta, Fumiaki Miura, Lorenza Borrani, Fanny Clamagirand, Miki Kobayashi, Ekaterina Frolova and Rennosuke Fukuda.
Vernikov has recorded with RCA, Ondine, and Dynamic and currently plays the beautiful Guadagnini 1757 kindly loaned by family of Tibor Varga.
Jonathan Leung
Violinist Jonathan Leung was born in Hong Kong and began lessons on the violin, cello, and piano at the age of five. Some of his early teachers include Gleb Donstov, Artem Konstantinov and Hui Ling. In 2015, Leung is admitted to the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin for his undergraduate studies under the tutelage of renowned violin virtuoso Ning Feng.
Leung has participated in various masterclasses by leading violinists in Europe, including Zakhar Bron, Michael Frischenschlager, Pavel Vernikov, Mauricio Fuks, Pierre Amoyal, among others. In Hong Kong, Leung has also studied with the late Prof. Lin Yaoji, Prof. Zheng Shisheng and Prof. He Zhanhao.
Leung has toured as a soloist in the past with the Hong Kong Children's Symphony Orchestra to Austria, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. He was a winner at the Strings Open Class at the Hong Kong School's Music Festival in 2014 and made his solo debut at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre later that year.
Leung is one of the six candidates receiving Honorable Mention in Musicus Society's 2019 Young Artist Audition.
Duo Ping & Ting
Twin sisters Lok-ping and Lok-ting Chau gained wide recognition of their exceptional musicality and fascinating matches of sound. The South German Post remarked that "Duo Ping & Ting reacted precisely and harmonically together with a matching of sound in an unbelievable manner."
The Duo won top prizes at the 64th ARD International Music Competition in Munich, Dranoff International Two Pianos Competition, Fourth International Piano Duo Competition at Bialystok, San Marino International Piano Duo Competition and Grieg Á Deux International Two Piano Competition in Oslo. In addition, they were awarded the "André Hoffmann" prize for best interpretations of new music at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad International Music Festival in Switzerland. The Duo has collaborated with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, New Zurich Orchestra, Bialystok Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. They were invited to music festivals worldwide including the Liesborner Chamber Music Festival in Germany, International Gedánsk Piano Duo Festival in Poland, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Joy of Music Festival in Hong Kong, Gulangyu Piano Festival in Xiamen. They are invited regularly by The Dranoff Two Pianos Foundation in Miami to work with other artists on school projects. For the 2019/20 season, the Duo will be featured with the Hong Kong Philharmonic in programmes dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
The Duo is also active in education and community services and was acknowledged for making outstanding contribution in international arts and culture activities by the Secretary for Home Affairs in 2009.
Chau Lok-Ping
Twin sisters Chau Lok-ping and Lok-ting gained wide recognition of their exceptional musicality and fascinating matches of sound. The South German Post remarked that "Duo Ping & Ting reacted precisely and harmonically together with a matching of sound in an unbelievable manner."
The Duo has won top prizes at the 64th ARD International Music Competition in Munich, Dranoff International Two Pianos Competition, Fourth International Piano Duo Competition at Bialystok, San Marino International Piano Duo Competition and Grieg Á Deux International Two Piano Competition in Oslo. In addition, they were awarded the "André Hoffmann" prize for best interpretations of new music at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad International Music Festival in Switzerland. The Duo has collaborated with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, New Zurich Orchestra, Bialystok Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. They were invited to music festivals worldwide including the Liesborner Chamber Music Festival in Germany, International Gedánsk Piano Duo Festival in Poland, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Joy of Music Festival in Hong Kong, Gulangyu Piano Festival in Xiamen. They are invited regularly by The Dranoff Two Pianos Foundation in Miami to work with other artists on school projects. For the 2019/20 season, the Duo will be featured in programmes dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre with the Hong Kong Philharmonic.
Chau Lok-Ting
Sebastian Krunnies
Sebastian Krunnies has been a member of the venerated Berlin Philharmonic since 2000. He has performed under the baton of the world's leading conductors, including the Sir Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev and the late Claudio Abbado among many others.
Krunnies began his first viola lessons at the age of four. After studying music and medicine in Freiburg, he continued his music studies at the Salzburg Mozarteum and Berlin's Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule. Prior to his engagement by the Berlin Philharmonic, Krunnies was a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, the European Union Youth Orchestra and the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. In 2012, Krunnies was invited to perform in the Solti Centenary Concert as a member of the World Orchestra for Peace.
A veteran orchestral violist, Krunnies is also a sought after chamber musician. He has appeared in music festivals in Europe and North America, most notably the Marlboro Music Festival, in which he shared the stage with illustrious artists including Mitsuko Uchida and Augustin Hadelich, among others.
Krunnies is also a member of the award-winning Trio Echnaton. The ensemble has garnered top prizes at the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and International Joseph Joachim Chamber Music Competition. In addition to appearing in major music festivals in Europe, the trio has also released recordings under the Coviello Classics label and toured extensively in Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia.
Tiffany Leung
Tiffany Leung is currently a third year undergraduate student at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), where she studies composition under the tutelage of Dr. Jade Yau.
Leung was influenced by her secondary school music teachers when she was in tenth grade. Upon completion of her DSE diploma, Leung decided to pursue further studies in music composition. Leung was one of the 20 candidates shortlisted for the "Sig. Tune for the HKMoA: Creative Music Programme," organized by the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) in 2019. Recently, Leung is selected as a winner of the Call for Scores and participated in the artist residency program at Tai Kwun.
Dejan Lazić
Born into a musical family in Zagreb, Croatian pianist Dejan Lazić's fresh interpretations of the repertoire have established him as one of the most unique and unusual soloists of his generation. Lazić's live recording of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 with London Philharmonic Orchestra and Kirill Petrenko received the German ECHO KLASSIK Award.
A versatile musician, Lazić studied the piano, clarinet and composition at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. His orchestral debuts in US and Europe took place in 2008 with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Kirill Petrenko. In the same year, Lazić performed Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto at the Beijing Great Hall of People in a televised pre-Olympic gala concert.
Lazić has built close collaborations with some of today's most sought after conductors including Giovanni Antonini, Iván Fischer, Andris Nelsons, Vasily Petrenko, Robert Spano, John Storgårds and Osmo Vänskä. Lazić regularly plays with leading orchestras from around the world, and enjoys a significant following in Asia touring China with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer.
Alongside his solo career, Lazić is also a passionate chamber musician and collaborates with renowned violinists Gordan Nikolic, Benjamin Schmid, Thomas Zehetmair, Richard Tognetti, cellists Pieter Wispelwey and Sol Gabetta, as well as clarinettists Martin Fröst and Andreas Ottensamer. In addition to giving recitals at prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw, Lazić has appeared in major festivals at Edinburgh, Lisbon, Gstaad (Menuhin), Verbier, Basel (Hochrhein Musikfestival), Schleswig-Holstein, Hohenems (Schubertiade), Prague and Huntington.
Lazić's recording of the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven with cellist Pieter Wispelwey was named one of the most notable releases of the year by The New York Times. He has also released numerous critically acclaimed albums, including Beethoven's Triple Concerto and the authentic arrangement of the composer's Violin Concerto for piano.
Noah Bendix-Balgley
Since becoming a Laureate of the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and gathering top prizes at further international competitions, Bendix-Balgley regularly appears with leading international orchestras and in recital at the world's finest halls. Recent and upcoming highlights include his concerto debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, Israel Camerata, Shanghai and Guangzhou Symphony Orchestras. He has also undertaken extensive recital tours throughout Europe and Asia, including performances at the Berlin Philharmonie, Bonn, Wroclaw, Taipei, Tongyeong, as well as the cities of Xi'an, Shangdong, Shanghai and Jiangsu of China. Further performance highlights include concerts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de Belgique, Utah Symphony, Nagoya Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Auckland Philharmonia, Apollo's Fire Orchestra, Verbier Festival Orchestra and performance of the Brahms Double Concerto with Alisa Weilerstein and the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra.
A passionate chamber musician, Bendix-Balgley performs in several fixed ensembles including a trio with pianist Robert Levin and cellist Peter Wiley and the multi-genre septet Philharmonix featuring members of both the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras. The latter is engaged in a multi-year residency at Vienna's Konzerthaus. Recent and upcoming chamber highlights include performances at the Bergen International Festival, Zermatt Festival, Brevard Music Festival, Seattle Music Festival, Sarasota Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, Le Pont Festival in Japan.
Bendix-Balgley is also a renowned performer of traditional klezmer music, a musical style which has been part of his life since an early age. He has performed with world-renowned klezmer groups such as Brave Old World and has taught at klezmer workshops throughout Europe and the United States. In 2016, he has premiered his own klezmer violin concerto, Fidl-Fantazye, with the Pittsburgh Symphony conducted by Manfred Honeck.
Born in Asheville, North Carolina, Bendix-Balgley graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and the Munich Hochschule studying with Mauricio Fuks, Christoph Poppen and Ana Chumachenco. Bendix-Balgley also teaches at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic and frequently gives master classes including at his alma mater in Indiana, Morningside Music Bridge, Domaine Forget, Australian National Academy of Music and the Shanghai Orchestra Academy.
Paloma So
14-year-old Paloma So is the First-Prize winner and youngest ever participant in the history of the 8th Novosibirsk Violin Competition (Junior division). She also took home the second prize from (17 or under category) of the 13th International Wieniawski Competition for Young Violinists.
Paloma made her debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 2014, playing Mozart's Violin Concerto no. 5. Later that year she was invited to perform as a soloist at the G20 Gala Dinner in Australia. She was also invited to perform at the Interlaken Music Festival in Switzerland and participated in the masterclass of Prof. Zakhar Bron.
Paloma's recent performance highlights included appearance at Opening Concert of the XIX International television contest for young musicians in Moscow and the inaugural concert of the 14th International K. Lipiński and H. Wieniawski Competition for Young Violinists. Paloma was featured as soloist Symphony Under the Stars with the Hong Kong Philharmonic in 2018 and the Asian tour of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, appearing at the Esplanade, Kawasaki Concert Hall, Tokyo Suntory Hall and Taipei National Theatre in 2017. Other notable performances included performance with Maxim Vengerov and the Philharmonia Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall, and concerto performances with the London Chamber Orchestra and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra at the Cadogan Hall and Berlin Philharmonie respectively.
Paloma is currently a student at Wycombe Abbey School in the UK.
Dorian Xhoxhi
Dorian Xhoxhi has been first violinist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra since 2010. A winner at the International Queen Sophie Charlotte Competition and the International Louise Henriette Competition in Germany, Xhoxhi was previously engaged as the Second Violin Principal at the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. He was also a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester in Berlin.
Born in Tirana to a family of musicians, Xhoxhi began studying violin with his father at the age of 6. Further studies took Xhoxhi to Munich, where he became a student of Ernő Sebestyén, followed by training at Berlin's Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule with Stephan Picard and Antje Weithaas.
As a devoted chamber music player, Xhoxhi is a regular member of the Philharmonic String Quartet and Berlin Baroque Soloists. He is also among the musicians of the Chamber Orchestra Vienna-Berlin, collaborating in concerts and on tour with illustrious soloists including Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yuja Wong and Denis Matsuev among others.
Xhoxhi frequently appears in festivals around the world, especially in the Different Trains festival in Albania. Xhoxhi is a faculty member at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Rostock. He has also given master classes and hosted workshops in Europe, the United States and various cities in Asia including Hong Kong.
Sirius Chau
A winner of Musicus Society's 2019 Young Artist Audition, Sirius Chau is a rising soloist and orchestral player in the UK and in Asia. Chau is a prize-winner in various international and national competitions, including the 2018 Eugene Magalif Flute Concerto International Competition in the USA. He was also the only Hong Kong candidate invited to compete in the prestigious Carl Nielsen International Flute Competition in 2019.
Chau's recent highlights included performances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Andrew Davies, as well as English National Opera Orchestra. He has also given solo debuts at the Wigmore Hall and Bridgewater Hall respectively.
Other notable achievements include winning the Alain-Marion Scholarship at the Domaine Forget International Music Academy (Canada) where Sirius studied privately with Emmanuel Pahud and Mathieu Dufour and receiving the Best Performance Award at the Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy and Festival (Japan). In addition, Chau has been awarded scholarships to receive training at the National Arts Centre (Canada), Orford Music Academy (Canada), Taipei Music Academy Festival and the Alion Baltic International Music Festival (Estonia).
Chau received his Artist Diploma in Performance and Master of Music from the Royal College of Music (RCM), under the support by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund and Drake Calleja Trust. At the RCM, he was a recipient of the Tagore Gold Medal and the Queen Mother Scholarship in 2019. He was also selected as a Young Artist of the Manchester Mid-day Concerts Series' as well as the Tillett Trust of the UK.
Zen Hu
Zen Hu was born into a musical family in Chengdu, China. At the age of 6 she began piano lessons with her mother, and a year later violin lessons with her father, Prof. Hu Wei Min. At the age of 13, Hu won first prize at the Sichuan Violin Competition and became a Grand Prize winner at the National Chinese Violin Competition in the next year.
After finishing her studies at the Sichuan Music Conservatory, Hu was invited by Lord Menuhin to collaborate with him at the famous Menuhin Academy in Gstaad (Switzerland), where she performed and toured regularly with Camerata Lysy. In 1987, Hu joined the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra at the invitation by Sergiu Celibidache and became the youngest and the first Chinese member in the ensemble. During her tenure, Hu completed her masters and doctoral studies in violin with Ana Chumachenco at the Munich Conservatory.
Hu has appeared regularly as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of the Munich Philharmonic, Polish National Radio, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, as well as with the highly acclaimed German brass ensemble "Blechschaden" Symphony Orchestra. Hu is also as a member of Gothoni String Quartet and various chamber music groups, including the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Lucerne Festival Strings, Salzburg String Sextet and Mozarteum Ensemble Salzburg. In addition, Hu has participated at major international festivals together with award-winning pianist-composer Dejan Lazić, appearing in various parts of Europe, USA, Chile, China, Japan and Australia.
Hu is a keen advocate of contemporary music and she is especially devoted to the development of Western classical music in China. Hu has released already several CDs, including highly acclaimed recording for Channel Classics entitled "China Connection" with violinist Ning Feng. Hu currently lives in Amsterdam. She regularly gives master classes in Europe, China, and in Australia and is often invited to serve as jury member of international competitions.
Nazar Tabachyshyn
Ukraine-born accordion player Nazar is multi-talented performer and conductor. Graduating from the Ternopil Music College with a Master's degree, Nazar has taught and conducted folk instrument orchestras at the Tchaikovsky National Musical Academy of Ukraine and his alma mater. Nazar was a first-prize winner at the Ukrainian Musical Contest in 2008 and the International Musical Contest in Erbezzo, Italy in 2010. He was also a winner at multiple international competitions, including Czech Republic and Lithuania.
Nazar is the founder and conductor of the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral Vocal Ensemble in Kyiv, Ukraine. He has based in Hong Kong since 2014, and founded the Hong Kong tango band "Cafe 852" which performs tango, Balkan folk music and gypsy jazz.
Lars Jakob
A native of Berlin, double bassist Lars Jakob studied with Prof. Günter Klaus at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt and attended masterclasses with Prof. Franco Petracci, renowned Italian double bass soloist and teacher.
Jakob is a laureate of the Lenzewski competition in Frankfurt. From 2003 to 2005, he was a member of the Orchestral Academy of the Bavarian State Orchestra. He was also offered a contract with the Munich Philharmonic.
Jakob has been a member of the Staatsorchester Stuttgart since 2007. He also plays in the Staatsoper and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. In 2010, Jakob founded the double bass quartet, Bassics, along with former colleagues Christopher Beuchert, Nico Karcher and Manuel Schattel. The group performs arrangements ranging from Baroque music to opera arias and jazz.
Born in Stuttgart, Johannes Klumpp learnt his trade under Prof. Nicolás Pasquet and Prof. Gunter Kahlert in Weimar alongside viola studies. Klumpp first attracted international attention when he won second prize in the International Conducting Competition in Besançon in 2007. This was followed by further awards at a German conducting competition in 2011, in which he won both the first and special prizes. Masterclasses with renowned conductors such as Kurt Masur, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Michail Jurowski rounded off his artistic training, during which he was a scholarship-holder of the German Music Council's conductors' development program "Maestros of Tomorrow."
Since the 2013/14 season, Klumpp has worked with the young musicians of the Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen as its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director. He was also appointed Artistic Director of the Schloss Hundisburg Summer Music Academy Festival in 2013. In addition, Klumpp has developed innovative program formats through the "ExtraKlang" series – held at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Zeche Zollverein – collaborating with such well-known German cultural figures as the publicist Roger Willemsen, the actor Rufus Beck, and the Oscar-nominated composer and pianist Hauschka.
Klumpp has performed with prominent orchestras including the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Düsseldorf Symphony, Dresdner Philharmonie, WDR Funkhausorchester Köln, Staatsorchester Stuttgart, the Munich and Nuremberg Symphonies, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra and Kammerakademie Potsdam. His latest release with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and the bassoonist Matthias Rácz with works by Françaix, Tomasi, Jolivet and Villa-Lobos was critically acclaimed.
Letty Poon
A native of Hong Kong, Letty Poon was trained at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She received her Master's degree from the Stony Brook University (New York, USA) and PhD in musicology from the University of Hong Kong. Poon was also a recipient of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund Scholarship.
As a sought-after cellist for solo, chamber, and orchestral performances, Poon has appeared with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the cello ensemble, Cellistra. Poon's performance engagements have taken her to mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Italy, France, Spain, and Austria. She has also been invited to perform at the Pacific Music Festival, Carinthian Festival, Festival Pablo Casals in Prades and the Zell an der Pram chamber music festival.
Poon has been serving as the Artistic Director of the Hong Kong International Cello Association since its establishment to promote cello music and cello playing in Hong Kong. Poon is currently a cello faculty at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University and the University of Hong Kong.
Membership Chair
Ms. Vicky Wong
Vicky Wong has extensive experience in advertising and marketing. She worked for Campaign Advertising and subsequently DDB Needham. Currently, Vicky is Marketing Director of Prestique Limited, a marketing firm based in Hong Kong, where she serves primarily fast-moving consumer goods, arts and cultural entities, sports, and financial clients.
Development - Fundraising Sub-committee Chair
Mr. Ken Lo
Mr. Ken Lo is the Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific, Distribution & Networks for Sony Pictures Television. He is the most senior executive in Asia Pacific for Sony Pictures Television and is responsible for the company's content distribution, local production, and television network operations, covering Greater China, Japan, India, Korea and Southeast Asia .
Mr. Lo has been with Sony Pictures Television since 2004. Before Sony Pictures, he worked as the Director of Business Development for Microsoft in Hong Kong, and was an Associate for McKinsey & Company.
Mr. Lo has an MBA from Harvard University and a BASc in engineering from University of Waterloo, Canada.
Education Chair & Development - Program Sub-committee Chair
Publicity Chair
Ms. Lilian Chen
As a PR/Marketing expertise, Lilian has been working in IT industry for more than 15 years. Recently, she moved her passion to Venture Capital field and dedicates to incubate the start-ups with potentials using their technology to bring about social change.
Lilian started to support the development of Musicus Society from 2012 and she has actively participated in the works of the committees. Lilian was the first Education Chair and built a solid foundation for 'Inspires!' – the education program of Musicus Society. Currently, she is acting as Publicity Chair who is responsible to monitor and approval the overall marketing and promotion plan and daily practice.
Lilian is also a writer. Her articles and culture critiques can be found at local newspapers and online media.
Ms. Elizabeth Law, MH, JP
Elizabeth Law, Certified Public Accountant (Practising), managing director of Law & Partners CPA Limited.
Ms. Law is also a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant of Canada and Member of Institute of Chartered Accountant of England & Wales, and a Fellow Member of Certified Public Accountants, Australia and the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong.
She is also the founder of the Association of Women Accountants (Hong Kong) and was the founding president of the Association. She was the President of the Society of Chinese Accountants and Auditors, and Council Member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and plays an active role in serving the community in both Hong Kong and China, serving as member of many government departments and public organizations including being the member of Equal Opportunities Commission, Hon. Treasurer of Hong Kong Council of Social Services, Member of The Advisory Group of McGill University in Asia, and Council Member of China Overseas Friendship Association etc.
To acknowledge her excellent achievements in promoting the industry, she was awarded the Outstanding Accountant Ambassador in 2003 and one of the 100 Outstanding Chinese Women Entrepreneurs in 2007.
Honorary Secretary
Ms. Angela Ho
Angela Ho is the founder and principal of Angela Ho & Associates, a law firm specialized in corporate finance and restructuring laws, especially public listings. She has been practicing law for nearly 18 years and has spent 4 years working at an investment bank. She was President of Hong Kong Federation of Women Lawyers from 2002 to 2005 and is Honorary Vice-President of Guangdong Foreign Related Investment Law Association.
Vice-Chairman, Council
Ms. Leonie Ki, GBS, JP
Leonie Ki joined New World China Enterprises Projects Limited as Managing Director since 1997. She is Non-Executive Director of New World Development Co. Ltd., Director of New World First Bus Services Limited (Kunming, PRC), and an independent non-executive director of listed companies. She was the founder, partner and Chairman/CEO of Grey Advertising Limited in Hong Kong and Mainland China. From 1995 – 97, she joined The Better Hong Kong Foundation as Chief Executive.
Leonie Ki has lectured extensively at universities in Greater China. Being a veteran advertising professional, and popular author and columnist, she wrote a best-selling advertising book in Chinese, which was one of the top ten most influential books in Taipei in 1990.
Leonie Ki is committed to community and public services. She is currently a Council member of UNICEF, a life member of the Children's Cancer Foundation, and a Court and Council member of Lingnan University. She also sits on the Advisory Committees of EMBA/CUHK, Career Advisory Board of HKU, the Asian Advisory Board of the Cheng Yu Tung Management Institute, Richard Ivey School of Business (The University of Western Ontario, Canada), and has been a member of CPU and the Commission on Strategic Development. She is also a CPPCC member of Yunnan Province.
Chairman, Council
Mrs. Janice Choi, MH, JP
Janice Choi was appointed by the Government to the General Committee of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society Limited in November 2002 for 4 consecutive years involved mainly in its re-organization. Afterward, she was elected to the new Board of Governors, and is still serving on the Board. She is also a founding member and was a director of Opera Hong Kong, of which tenor Warren Mok is the Artistic Director.
Janice Choi has been a practicing solicitor admitted to the Supreme Court of Hong Kong since 1982. She is qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales, as an advocate in Singapore, and as a barrister in Victoria, Australia. She has been a China Attesting Officer appointed by the PRC Government since 1993. Janice is legal director of Sun Wah Group and non-executive director of SW Kingsway Capital Holdings Limited (stock code: 188), and consultant of Rowland Chow, Chan & Co. Solicitors & Notaries.
President & Development Chair
Ms. Chui-Inn Lee
Chui-Inn Lee has extensive experience in the media, arts and entertainment industries. She was formerly the General Manager of IMG China, then the leading global sports and music management company. In addition, she was Vice President of Business Development at Star TV, the Asian subsidiary of News Corporation, and Executive Producer for the international award winning film 'Hainan Chicken Rice.' She has played an instrumental role in managing and promoting the career of cellist Trey Lee, as well as collaborated with numerous European orchestras and arts organizations.
Ms. Lee received an MBA from Harvard Business School, and graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University with a Bachelor in Economics. She attended the Juilliard School's Pre-College and College divisions, where she studied with Oxana Yablonskaya and Jane Carlson; she was first prizewinner at the Juilliard Concerto Competition, the International Grand Rapids Young Keyboard Artist Competition and the Canadian National Competition.
Honorary Artistic Advisor
Ms. Xu Xia
Xu Xia, mezzo soprano, is currently the Artistic Director of Shenzhen Concert Hall and Vice President of the Shenzhen Musician Association. In 1981, she graduated from the Arts Department of Jiangxi Normal College and was assigned to Jiangxi Song and Dance Theatre as a solo singer. In 1984, she was admitted to the Voice Opera Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and studied with Zhou Xiaoyan, the renowned Chinese coloratura and vocal educator. In 1987, she was transferred to the Second Artillery Force of Beijing as a solo singer in song and dance troupe of the Political Department. During her career as a soprano, she has won many prizes in competitions nationwide.
In 1990, Xu Xia played a key role in the construction planning of Shenzhen Concert Hall. After the opening of the concert hall, she initiated important programs such as The Sound of Spring, Happy Summer for Families and Listen to the Sound of Autumn. With the support of Shenzhen government, she further created the popular Beautiful Sunday program for the Shenzhen public.
Xu Xia received her Masters in Arts Management from Shanghai Music Conservatory and Masters from the EDP program at Guanghua School of Management at Beijing University.
Honorary Advisor
Ms. Kai-yin Lo, SBS
Ms. Kai-yin Lo is one of the most internationally acclaimed designers. In 2007, She was named the "World's Leading Chinese Designer" by the Hong Kong Design Centre, recognized to be the most important award for designers of Chinese heritage.
Apart from being Hong Kong's most successful jewelry designer, she is also a well-known historian, patron, and Chinese art collector. She has written three books on Chinese art and culture.
Dr. Darwin Chen, SBS, ISO
Mr. Darwin Chen was Manager of Hong Kong City Hall upon its completion, and from the 1970s, he was Director of Cultural Services. At City Hall and Cultural Services, Mr. Chen brought to fruition numerous projects, including a subsidy scheme for local performing arts presentations, and the professionalization of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hong Kong Academy of Ballet. This was followed by the founding of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Dance Company, and the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre.
From the mid-1980s, Mr. Chen continued to serve Hong Kong in different capacities: as Commissioner for Television and Entertainment Licensing, Deputy Secretary of Constitutional Affairs responsible for the drafting of the Basic Law, Commissioner for Labour, and Director of Buildings and Lands. After his retirement from the Civil Service, between 1993 and 2000, he served as Chief Executive of the Community Chest. He continues to be Senior Advisor of the Community Chest, and is Vice President for Asia of United Way International, of which the Chest is a member, and Vice Chair of the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium.
He has also been Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and the Committee on Performing Arts.
The Hon. Sir David Akers-Jones, KBE, CMG, GBM, JP
Sir David Akers-Jones has served in many important posts in the Government of Hong Kong, including Principal Assistant Colonial Secretary, Secretary for the New Territories, Secretary for Home Affairs, Chief Secretary, Acting Governor of Hong Kong, Special Assistant to the Governor Lord Wilson, and Chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Authority.
Sir Akers-Jones was appointed as an Advisor on Hong Kong Issues (港事顧問) to the Government of the PRC from 1993 to 1997, and is actively involved with, whether in the capacity of chairman, president, vice-president or otherwise, Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation, the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association, the local chapter of Outward Bound, the Hong Kong Football Association, World Wildlife Fund Hong Kong, the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation, Operation Smile China, and English Speaking Union (Hong Kong).
Honorary Patron
The Hon. Tung Chee Hwa, GBM
Mr. Tung Chee Hwa is the Vice Chairman of the Eleventh National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, People's Republic of China. He is the Founding Chairman of the China-United States Exchange Foundation ("CUSEF"). Prior to these appointments, Mr. Tung served as the First Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR"), People's Republic of China from July 1997 to March 2005.
As the First Chief Executive of HKSAR, Mr. Tung presided over the historic return of Hong Kong to China and successfully turned the "One Country Two Systems" and "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong" with "a high degree of autonomy" from a concept into an everyday reality.
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference ("CPPCC") is one of the most important institutions of the People's Republic of China. Members of the CPPCC are made up of distinguished former senior government officials, well known professionals, outstanding academics, members of different political parties and people from different religious and ethnic groups from all across China. Major responsibilities of the CPPCC are to participate in the formulation and development of policies, to monitor the work of the government, and to promote consultative democracy. It plays a key role in ensuring that the opinions from the public at large are reflected to the government, and that government policies are communicated to the people.
The China-United States Exchange Foundation is a non-profit organisation registered in Hong Kong and was established in January 2008. Mr. Tung is the Founding Chairman and is supported by friends in Hong Kong, China and the United States. The mission of the Foundation is to promote understanding and strengthen relationships between the US and China. This is being done by fostering open dialogue between opinion leaders from governments, think tanks, academia, media, and business communities of both countries.
Born in 1937 in Shanghai, Mr. Tung spent his childhood in Hong Kong. From 1954, he spent six years in the United Kingdom, first in secondary education and then in tertiary education, graduating from the University of Liverpool with a BSc in 1960. From 1960-1969, he lived and worked in the United States, first as an engineer with General Electric in Massachusetts, and then in the family business in New York. In 1969, Mr. Tung returned to Hong Kong to help run the family business. He had a successful and distinguished career in business, while at the same time, served in various public sector and advisory positions in Hong Kong. In 1997, he took on the position as the first Chief Executive of HKSAR.
Mr. Tung is married to Betty Chiu Hung Ping. They have three children and nine grandchildren.