Artists and Speakers

2017 2015

2017 2015

"…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.

"…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.

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 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 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 JohnChen Ensemble.

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 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 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 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 autumn 2016.

Nisonen has been the 1st 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 LähiTapiola 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".

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.

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 the 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 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.

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 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 . In 2016, he received an FTCL in piano recital.

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 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 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 holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto and masters from Columbia University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. As an arts administrator, she 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, Happy Hour 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.

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 Musicus Society’s Inspires! education program.

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.

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.

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 20^th-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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

A rising star, he 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 (B.Mus) and the University of Toronto (M.Mus), and is currently completing his Doctorate at the latter institution.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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 as Budapest 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…"

He plays a 1721 Stradivari violin, known as the "MacMillan", on private loan, kindly arranged by Premiere Performances of Hong Kong.

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.

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.

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."

Bashmet was born in 1953. In 1976, he 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

Chua is currently pursuing his Bachelor Degree at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under Professor Michael Ma. Chua has worked with Trevor Pinnock, Stuart Stratford, Perry So, James Dunham and in master classes with Zhu Dan, Jimmy Lin and the Endellion String Quartet. Chua received a fellowship to participate in the prestigious Aspen Music Festival and School in the summer of 2013 under Sylvia Rosenberg and Naoko Tanaka.

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.

"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 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.

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 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.

Yen Liang-pei is an actress from Taiwan. She 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 partner in 2014. They continue to collaborate with the different artists from different countries, including directors, dancers and musicians.

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 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, he 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.

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 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 is a Year 3 student majoring in Mathematics and minoring in Music at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He has taken up the chromatic harmonica for over ten years. Since 2013, he has been selected to take part in the Advanced Music Performance Course offered by the Department of Music in HKU with Lee Chun Lok, Gordon, as his mentor.

Yeung has abundant performing experience in various settings, ranging from busking and theatrical productions, to outdoor carnivals and concert hall performances. Apart from solo performance, he is also keen on ensemble work. In 2012, Yeung and his friends formed a harmonica ensemble called The Myth Harmonica Ensemble, playing transcriptions from string quartet and arrangement work for harmonica ensemble.

Furthermore, Yeung is has participated in many harmonica competitions. He won several awards at both Hong Kong School Music Festival and Hong Kong Joint School Harmonica Competition. In 2015, he took part in the Taiwan International Harmonica Elite Competition and has won the third runner-up in the Solo Chromatic category.

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, concert pianist and teacher of Dalcroze Eurhythmics, recently attained 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 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 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.

“…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 Classicaas 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.

“…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 Classicaas 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.

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 Potterand 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.

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.

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.

He earned his degrees at the Hong Kong Baptist University, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and the University of California, San Diego, with research focusing on telematic musical composition and hyper-transcriptional compositional process “Sonic Engraving.”

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 etc. 

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. Since his undergraduate studies, his music has been performed and screened across the UK, Hong Kong and other countries, such as Brandenburg Choral Festival of London (2017), London Festival of Contemporary Church Music (2017) and Asian Composers League Festival & Conference (2015, 2016). In 2014, he represented Hong Kong to attend the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) World Music Days in Poland, making him the youngest Hong Kong composer representative in this prestigious forum to date.

Supported by the Elsie Gertrude Martin Award, Henry Wood Accommodation Trust (2016), CASH Music Scholarship (2015) and Jebsen & Co. Choral Arts Youth Scholarship (2015), 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 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 an 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.

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. Jamesʼ Palace, and performing the Mendelssohn concerto under Menuhinʼs baton.

Sitkovetsky has performed with major orchestras in the UK, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Academy of St. Martinʼs 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. Alexander is a founding member of the Sitkovetsky Piano Trio, with whom he has won various prizes 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.

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.

Mr. Ken Lo is the Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, International Distribution for Sony Pictures Television, covering distribution of motion pictures and television series for Greater China, India, Korea and Southeast Asia to traditional and new media platforms. His mandate is to optimise the sales of Sony Pictures’ content and grow the opportunities through exploring new ways of satisfying the demand for content and forming new partnership models.

Before this role, Mr. Lo was Vice President of Business Development for Sony Pictures across three major business lines: content distribution, broadcasting of AXN, Animax and Sony Entertainment Television, and production and co-production opportunities in both live-action and animation properties in Asia. Before Sony Pictures, he worked as the Director of Business Development for Microsoft in Hong Kong, and was a consultant in McKinsey & Company and Deloitte & Touche.

Mr. Lo has an MBA from Harvard University and a BASc in engineering from University of Waterloo, Canada.

Arts Administrator

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.

Lilian Chen has 12 years of in-depth experience in marketing and PR. She is currently the director of Advance Media, an IT media communication and marketing consulting agency. Prior to Advance Media, she founded several IT companies, and was awarded ‘The Global Marketing Award’ by Nokia Internet Communications in 2003.

Lilian is active in supporting Hong Kong’s arts education and cultural development. She is an arts critic for local newspapers and has published a book called My Daughter Loves Painting in 2010.

Elizabeth Law, Certified Public Accountant, partner of Stephen Law & Company and the managing director of Law & Partners CPA Limited. Besides working as a senior practitioner in Hong Kong, she is also a Chartered Accountant in Canada, England & Wales, and as Fellow of Certified Public Accountant in Australia and the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong.

Elizabeth has extensive experience in the field. She was the founder of the Association of Women Accountants (Hong Kong) and act as 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 the funding committee of many government departments and public organizations including the Air Transport Licensing Authority, SME Committee of the Trade and Industry Department, Process Review Panel for the Financial Reporting Council as well as the Hong Kong Council of Social Services etc, just to name a few. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.