Jockey Club Musicus Heritage Alive Community Concert: Turmoil and Redemption

"…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.

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.

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.

 [TJ1]Abbreviated to be less wordy

Busy freelance violist Edwin Lam was awarded the Grantham Scholarship, the HKSAR Government Scholarship, and the Y.S. Liu Foundation Scholarship before graduating with a bachelor's degree in music from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and embarking on his career as an orchestral and chamber musician. 
 
As Viola Principal of the Asian Youth Orchestra he toured major cities around Asia in 2013 and 2014, before becoming Viola Principal at the Kent Blossom Music Festival in 2015. There he performed as Viola Principal of the Chamber Orchestra, and collaborated as a chamber musician with peers from across the United States. He has participated in masterclasses with the Endelion Quartet, the Szymanowski Quartet, the Miami Quartet and the Shanghai Quartet.  
 
Since graduation Lam has performed under the baton of a distinguished list of conductors, including James Judd, Ken-David Masur, and Brett Mitchell, and with such noted soloists as cellist Steven Isserlis and violinists Vadim Repin, and Sarah Chang. 

George Ng has served as the principal violist of the Diocesan Boys' School's Symphony Orchestra and Senior Strings. In 2016 he toured with the Hong Kong Youth Strings, subsequently joining the Hong Kong Youth Symphony Orchestra. In each case he was one of the youngest players in the orchestra’s history. 
 
Ng currently studies under Born Lau and Samuel Pang, and has participated in masterclasses with Garth Knox, Juan-Miguel Hernandez, Christoph Koncz, Leo Phillips, and Kristjan Jarvi. 
 
He has gained extensive international touring experience at an early age, performing in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria as well as in Macau and mainland China. A performance at the Musikverein in Vienna is one of the memories he particularly cherishes.

After graduating from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts where he studied with Laurent Perrin, cellist Calvin Wong took his master’s degree at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, where he studied under former Kronberg Academy Emanuel Feurmann Conservatory Artistic Director Jan Ickert.  
 
In 2015, 2017 and 2019 he accepted invitations to take part in the Rome Chamber Music Festival, organized by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and the United States Embassy to Italy. His performances were supported by The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels. He has also appeared at the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, where he won the Taras Gabora Prize. He has performed as a soloist with the Mainzer Virtuosi String Orchestra in both Germany and Italy. 
 
As active on social media as in the concert hall, Wong has accumulated more than 60,000 online followers in mainland China, where he promotes the cello, and has performed solo recitals for his followers in Shanghai and Beijing. His album available on the streaming platform has achieved a play count of more than one million. More music will be released shortly online.  
 
Wong was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Musicus Society 2019 Young Artists Audition.

Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Marc Ngan graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts. He then moved to Hong Kong to pursue his dream of working in the performing arts industry, continuing his studies and graduating with a BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Performing Arts (Musical Theatre) from EXCEL, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), where he was awarded ‘Most Outstanding Student’ in his graduating year.

Based in Hong Kong, Ngan now works in the performing arts industry as a performer, creator and educator.

Ngan won ‘Best Actor’ at the 2017 Hong Kong English Language Drama Awards, and is one of the most sort-out performing arts tutors in Hong Kong. He is also one of Hong Kong’s top English MC, and has worked with numerous corporate companies, assisting them with their management training programs as a role-player and coach.

He believes if a person falls in love with what they’re doing, their energy, passion and soul will guide them to produce their best possible work.

Currently a Form 3 student at St. Mary’s Canossian College, at the age of just 11 Rani Fung was first runner-up in the Parsons Music Scholarship for Wind, Brass and Percussion Instruments (Open Class) in the 72nd Hong Kong Schools Music and Speech Association Festival, and was again a medal-winner in 2021 at the age of 14.

She is currently broadening her experience through participation in music festivals, masterclasses and Asian percussion competitions. She won the championship in marimba, vibraphone, and Chinese drums in the Taipei World Percussion Championship, and has also been a competition winner in Shanghai and Tokyo.

Fung has also been acquiring ensemble experience through participation in the Asian Youth Orchestra Hong Kong Music Summer Orchestra; the Academy Concert Band; Parsons Wind Orchestra; and the Hong Kong Bravissimo Wind Ensemble. She has also appeared in a pop concert as a solo vibraphonist for Justin Lo’s performance at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

Rani Fung is now studying marimba with award-winning Japanese marimbist Eriko Daimo and multi-percussion with Calvin Li.

Based in Rome, Italy, Claudia Frisone is an actress, a dance-theatre performer, director, drama teacher and vocal coach for drama academies, public schools, private students and clients. She graduated in 1985 from the A. Fersen International Academy. Since 2002, she has also been working as an art counsellor and drama counsellor, as well as leading public speaking courses.

Violinist Fan Hui-sing is the 2021 winner in the Musicus Society’s Young Artist Audition program. Winner of the New York International Artists Violin Competition and the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition, he has established himself as a rising star on the international concert circuit. Institutions and international festivals at which he has performed include the Marvão Music Academy, the Verbier Festival, the Festival e Academia Verão Clássico, the Great Mountains Music Festival and School, and the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. He made his debut with the Musicus Society in 2021.

Born in Hong Kong, Fan began violin lessons at the age of four. He was the beneficiary of the Cordelia Lee Scholarship and Betty & Daniel Bloomfield Fund Scholarship while at the Juilliard School, where he earned his bachelor’s degree studying under Hyo Kang and I-Hao Lee, before going on to further studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich with Julia Fischer, Christoph Poppen, and Lena Neudauer.

Fan has collaborated with and been mentored by such renowned artists as Leonidas Kavakos, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Vadim Repin, Itzhak Perlman, Kristóf Baráti, Ferenc Rados, Pamela Frank, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Donald Weilerstein, Aaron Rosand, Pierre Amoyal,  Mihaela Martin, the Quatuor Ébène, and the Emerson String Quartet.

He currently plays a 1795 Ferdinandus Gagliano violin from Naples.

Toronto born violinist Elissa Lee has appeared as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the Brott Music Festival Orchestra, the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l‘Orchestre de Chambre de Montréal, and the Royal Conservatory Orchestra. She won first prize in the 23rd Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition (Strings).

Lee studied with Victor Danchenko at the Royal Conservatory and with Lorand Fenyves at the University of Toronto, where she received a master’s degree in performance and was the recipient of the prestigious Eaton Scholarship. She then moved to Germany to study privately with Andreas Reiner in Munich and Thomas Brandis at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin where she won second prize in the Gyarfas Competition. She received two Chalmers Performing Arts Training Grants from the Ontario Arts Council, and a Canada Council Grant.

Lee has held positions as Second Concertmaster in both the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the WDR Sinfonieorchester, and is now enjoying a busy freelance career.

She has performed as Concertmaster with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchster der KlangVerwaltung in Munich, and the Lucerne Festival Strings, and in leading positions with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Luxembourg Philharmonic, and the Canadian Opera Company. She has also been a guest of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and has worked under the batons of Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Bernard Haitink and Daniel Harding.

Lee has featured as first violinist with both the Kamareli and the Bomari String Quartets, has performed with Louie Lortie, Augustin Dumay, Anton Kuerti, Pascal Devoyon, Kevin Fitzgerald, Lawrence Lesser, and Shauna Rolston, and has been a frequent participant in Open Chamber Music in Prussia Cove, Cornwall. With pianist Jeanie Chung she won second prize at the 2001 Caltanissetta International Chamber Music Competition, and received an Honourable Mention at the Premio Vittorio Gui Competition in Florence.

In 2010 Lee joined Ensemble Made in Canada which created and toured MOSAÏQUE, a musical journey through the country which won a JUNO award for Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber in 2021.

Hila Karni was born in Tel Aviv and took up the cello aged nine. Only four years later she was touring Europe, Canada and the United States.

Karni’s teachers included Zvi Harel, Uzi Wiesel, David Geringas, and the legendary Bernard Greenhouse, who has described her as “one of the most musically sensitive and technically exciting cellists of the younger generation.” She received her chamber music training with Haim Taub, Ilan Gronich, and the Alban Berg Quartet.

In 2006, together with violinist Daniel Bard and pianist Ohad Ben-Ari, Karni founded the successful Trio Mondrian, winning 1st Prize, the Young Award, and the Special Prize for its interpretation of a Brahms trio at the 2007 International Chamber Music Competition in Trieste. At the 2008 Bologna Festival it received the Audience Prize, and in 2009, was awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship (London). The Italian composer Marcello Abbado dedicated a piece entitled Trio Mondrian to the ensemble. Since 2021 Karni has been a member of Trio Lirico.

She has appeared at numerous festivals - including Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein, Stresa, Kfar Blum, and Ravinia - and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Megaron Mousikis in Athens, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Kölner Philharmonie, the Wigmore Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York. From 2013 to 2015 she taught chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.

Among her many musical partners are Boris Pergamentschikow, Guy Braunstein, Ralf Gothoni, Bernard Greenhouse, Maxim Vengerov, Nigel Kennedy and the Scharoun Ensemble. She also regularly collaborates with Israeli singer Noa. Albanian composer Dhora Leka wrote the solo piece Improvisus for her. Karni’s recordings of the Romantic Serenades and the Cello Concerto Op. 33 by Robert Volkmann with the Hamburg Camerata, and of Max Richter’s War Anthem with the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg, have received enthusiastic reviews.

Richard Wolfe was born and raised in New York, where he studied violin with Mara Sebriansky and Dorothy DeLay. He graduated from the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati in the class of Walter Levin (1st violinist of the LaSalle Quartet).

After further studies in New York with Gerald Beale, Wolfe lived five years in Israel, where he became a member of the Israel Chamber Orchestra. During this period, he started to discover the beauty of the viola, and played it in an ensemble with principal players from the orchestra.

In 1982 Wolfe established himself in the Netherlands, and in 1984 he began a 35 year tenure as first principal violist of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra / Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. With these orchestras he appeared numerous times as soloist, at home and abroad. His recording of Mozart's “Sinfonia Concertante” K.364, with Gordan Nicolić and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, was released on the Tacet label in 2020.

Wolfe has been a member of chamber music ensembles with notable musicians, such as the violinist Sergiu Luca (“Music in Context”) and cellist Roel Dietiens (“Explorations”), and he and his wife, the violinist Elisabeth Perry, are core members of the Utrecht-based Rietveld Ensemble.

Wolfe is professor of viola at the Utrecht Conservatory, and he has participated in master classes and festivals in France, Germany and the United States. 

Violinist Francis, Chik Yiu Ting is a member of the Cong Quartet, which won the Grand Prize in the 2019 Salzburg Mozart International Chamber Competition in Tokyo and the 2nd prize in the 2021 Kreutzer International Competition. The quartet is currently artist-in-residence for the Master of Arts programme of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where it previously held the role of ensemble-in-residence from 2019 to 2021.

Yiu has attended the Netherlands String Quartet Academy, the Robert Mann String Quartet Institute and the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar in New York, the Heifetz International Music Institute’s Ashkenasi/Kirshbaum Chamber Music Seminar in Virginia, Harpa International Music Academy in Iceland, and Madeline Island Chamber Music in Wisconsin. He has worked closely with the Pacifica, Dover and Shanghai Quartets, and with members of the Danel, Jerusalem, American, Tokyo, Juilliard, Borromeo, Vermeer and Borodin String Quartets.

He obtained his Master of Arts from the Royal Academy of Music in London, and was awarded the Roth Prize for Violin Finalists for his exceptional performance in the final recital. He obtained his Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he was awarded the Performer’s Certificate, and also studied at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He has studied under Hu Kun, Ivan Chan, Ho Hong-yin, Mikhail Kopelman, Simin Ganatra and Joseph Swensen.

Yiu has appeared at the Bowdoin International Music Festival (Maine), the Aspen Music Festival and School (Colorado), the Heifetz International Music Institute (Virginia), the Nyack Academy of Music Summer Festival (New York) and the Hu Kun & Friends International Masterclass. He has also played in masterclasses by world-renowned violinists Pinchas Zukerman, Movses Pogossian, Tasmin Little, Federico Agostini, Renee Jolles, Paivyt Meller and Isaac Malkin.

Chow Yip-wai is the newest addition to the Cong Quartet, the current artists-in-residence in the Master of Arts programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was educated primarily in the United States, graduating with a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he studied under Avano Ninomiya, having previously earned his bachelor’s degree at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, studying under Robin Scott and Charles Castleman.

Chow has served as first violinist with the award-winning Montclair String Quartet in West Virginia and also as a faculty member at West Virginia State University.  He has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster at a range of venues and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, New York; the Banff Centre in Alberta; Jordan Hall, Boston; the Moritzburg Festival, Germany and Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. He has been a prize-winner in numerous competitions, including the MTNA Young Artist Performance Competitions and the Brookline Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition in the United States and the Japan-Hong Kong International Music Competition.

Caleb Wong is the violist of Cong Quartet, winner of the Grand Prize in the 2019 Salzburg Mozart International Chamber Competition in Tokyo and 2nd prize in the 2021 Kreutzer International Competition in Belgium. The quartet is currently artist-in-residence for the Master of Arts programme of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where it previously held the role of ensemble-in-residence from 2019 to 2021.  Prior to the formation of the Cong Quartet, Wong was violist of the Alpensia Quartet in South Korea, sponsored by the Artsylvia Foundation.

Wong received his musical education in Hong Kong, London, Indiana, New York and the Netherlands, studying with Kaori Wilson of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Kazuhide Isomura of the Tokyo String Quartet, and Edward Gazouleas, artistic director of the Curtis Institute of Music. His other mentors include Ivan Chan, Stephen Wyrczynski, Michael Tree, Mai Motobuchi and Mara Gearman. He has studied and worked closely with the Pacifica, Borromeo, Dover, Juilliard and Shanghai string quartets, and with members of the Cleveland, Danel, Guarneri, Jerusalem, Tokyo, and Vermeer quartets.

Chamber music festivals and institutions Wong has performed at include the Robert Mann String Quartet Institute and the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar (New York), the Ashkenasi/Kirshbaum Chamber Music Seminar at the Heifetz International Music Institute in Staunton, Virginia, Madeline Island Chamber Music in La Pointe, Wisconsin and Harpa International Music Academy in Iceland.

Wong has been a member of The Orchestra Now (TŌN) in New York, the Evansville Philharmonic in Indiana and the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra in Kentucky. During his time in New York, he performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center, and recorded with the Naxos and Sorel Classics labels.

Recent performances have included recitals in Tokyo, New York, the Netherlands, France, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong native Cheng Yan-ho studied cello under Cheung Ming-yuen, Joliana Lai, Tung Hiu-lo and Professor Ray Wang. He graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor’s in Music, and from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington with a Master’s degree in Cello Performance, under Peter Stumpf and Brandon Vamos. He also worked as assistant to Susan Moses at the Indiana University String Academy and furthered his studies in quartet performance with Marc Danel, Ivan Chan and the Pacifica Quartet.

Cheng is the founding cellist of the Cong Quartet, which won the Grand Prize in the 2019 Salzburg Mozart International Chamber Competition in Tokyo and 2nd prize in the 2021 Kreutzer International Competition in Belgium. The Cong Quartet is currently artist-in-residence for the Master of Arts programme of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where it previously held the role of the ensemble-in-residence from 2019 to 2021. Cheng has recently toured Europe and the United States with the quartet. Other notable artists he has performed with include Jorja Fleezanis, Antonio Lysy, Mai Motobuchi, Yuri Bashmet and Eric Kim.   

Cheng was awarded a full scholarship for his Master’s studies by the C.C. Chiu Memorial Fund and has also been the beneficiary of the C.F. Hu Postgraduate Memorial Scholarship, the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation’s “Gucci Timepieces and Jewelry Music Fund” Scholarship, and the Li Po Chun Charity Trust Fund Postgraduate Scholarship. He was also a prize-winner in the Cello Concerto competition at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival.

Luk Wai-chun recently received his doctorate in composition from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he studied under Professor Lee Wan-ki Wendy. He is interested in the eclectic stylistic elements of music from across the world, and has explored many different musical idioms, his recent works being influenced by Chinese regional folk music, Chinese traditional opera, Japanese gagaku, jazz and Latin American music.

In 2019, Luk went to the University of South Florida as a visiting scholar to study jazz and conduct research into Latin American music, with fieldwork in Cuba, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. He has collaborated with many different music groups, including artists from Hong Kong, the USA, Canada, France, Brazil and Thailand.

In the course of his doctoral studies, Luk received several scholarships, including the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Scholarship, the ICS Mok Hing Cheong Postgraduate Scholarship and the Music Scholarship (Local Studies) from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund.

His Chinese instrumental composition Tan-Tiao Rock won the Gold Award (Combination of Musical Instruments of the Same Category) at the 2021 Dunhuang Awards, while his pipa solo work Jazz Pipa won the Silver Award at the 2017 Dunhuang Awards. He has also won prizes awarded by Musicus Society, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Catchfire Collective and Tacet(i) Ensemble Call for Scores.

His other compositions have been featured at the São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival, the Hong Kong Contemporary Music Festival, the International Society for Contemporary Music’s World (New) Music Days 2017 (Canada) and the Intercultural Music Conference and Concerts (USA). One of his compositions, Blue Pole, recently featured at the 67th International Rostrum of Composers in Belgrade, Serbia.

Alvin Chan holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s in music from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where he studied under Dr Lung Heung-wing, James Boznos and Alan Cumberland. He received full scholarships from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund, and has also been awarded the SAR Philharmonic Scholarship and the Chan Ho Choi Enchanting Music Scholarship. 

Chan has been the resident percussionist of the Hong Kong Gaudeamus Dunhuang Ensemble since 2018 and has toured to Dunhuang and Quanzhou. In 2019 he co-founded the Vertex Percussion Duo and M.A.R.B.L.E.S. Percussion. The same year, he joined the Sō Percussion Summer Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, where he performed with percussionists from all over the world.

He is also an associated artist of Toolbox Percussion, with the support of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, and he performed with Third Coast Percussion at the Toolbox International Creative Academy in 2020.

In 2015, Chan toured Mainland China, Taiwan and Japan as a member of the Asian Youth Orchestra and in 2017 he performed as an accompanist at the World Dance Alliance Global Summit in St John’s, Canada, with the support of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

He is also a freelance player with the Macao Orchestra, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Philharmonia APA.

Hong Kong dizi performer Kung Wai-kin started learning the instrument at the age of eight. He later furthered his studies in dizi in Shanghai, graduating with a Master of Arts from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under Professor Zhan Yongming, a renowned dizi performer and educator.

During his time in Shanghai, Kung learned from famous dizi masters from all over the world, and also got many opportunities for performances and exchanges, such as the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival, Contemporary Music Week and the Shanghai International Art Festival. In 2018, he was invited to premiere the dizi sonata Sea Breeze and Bamboo Dream in Taipei. He has performed with the Di Sheng Fu Dizi Chamber Orchestra and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music Chinese Orchestra in a number of cities. He took part in and helped organise the 5th and 6th Shanghai Conservatory of Music Chinese Traditional Wind Instrument Week series of lectures and performances. He was also recommended by the school to take part in a teaching exchange project with the Geneva Conservatory of Music in Switzerland.
 
Kung has won multiple awards, including the Dizi Gold Award at the West Lake International Youth Musical Instrumental Competition Higher School Professional Group and gold medal at the Dizi Professional Group in China · Wuxi 4th International Flute Festival and the “Listen to the Rain Cup” dizi professional competition. He received the Excellent Student Scholarship for three years straight from 2018 to 2000. In 2019, he was named an outstanding student by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music “Music Talent to Fly” programme and received sponsorship to give a solo recital. In 2020, he was selected for the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra to host the “Music Integrates” chamber concerts by young music makers and will give a solo dizi concert in June 2022.

Piao Xingji was born into a musical family in 1992 and started taking piano lessons at the age of four, giving his first performance two years later. He received a full scholarship to study at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under Professor Gabriel Kwok. Piao graduated with a Bachelor of Music and then a Master’s.

Piao has won numerous awards, including First Prize in Piano at the Shanghai Grand Theatre Cup (1999) and National Kawai Piano Competition (2005, China), First Prize and four special prizes at the 5th International Russian Music Piano Competition (2006, San Jose), First Prize at the 14th Hong Kong – Asia Piano Competition (Open Class, 2007), Second Prize and three special prizes at the 11th Grieg International Piano Competition in Norway (2010), Grand Prize at the HKGNA New York Debut Piano Competition (2010), and Second Prize at the 21st International Piano Competition in Italy (2011).

Piao has performed around the world, including China, the United States, Italy, Austria, Norway, Hungary and Poland. He went on a concert tour of China in 2006, and toured Austria, Poland and Hungary in 2008. After winning the top prize at the HKGNA New York Debut Piano Competition (2010), he performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. His recital at the Hong Kong Arts Festival (2013) was critically acclaimed. His performance in Pordenone in 2014 was also well-received and was given extensive coverage in the Italian media. As well as being recorded for a CD release, the concert was broadcast by Radio 3 Rai, Italy’s preeminent classical music station.

Piao co-founded the Bauhinia Trio with violinist Zheng Yang and cellist Jia Nan in 2018. The ensemble has given a number of concerts since then and has collaborated with many artists.

In 2021, Piao was invited to take part in the RTHK programme “Beethoven 32”, which featured 32 pianists associated with the The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts School of Music.

Born in Hong Kong, violist Lee Yat is one of the 2021 honorable mentions of the Musicus Society’s Young Artist Audition program. He received a scholarship prize from the Junior Music Program of Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where he studied violin and chamber music. At the age of 16, Lee switched to viola. Lee made his debut with the Musicus Society in 2021.

Lee was admitted at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna at the age of 17, where he studied viola under the tutelage of Professor Wolfgang Klos and Professor Urlich Schönauer. He also took baroque viola lessons periodically from Hiro Kurosaki and Rainer Ingomar. In 2018, he received full scholarship at the International Menuhin Music Academy where he studied under Ivan Vukcevic, Maxim Vengerov and chamber music from Gabor Takacs Nagy. He took part in masterclasses given by renowned artists including Richard O’Neill, Nobuko Imai, Gérard Caussé and Pinchas Zukerman.

Lee is the 2nd prize winner of the string competition in University of music and performing arts, Vienna and a recipient of the Dr. Martha Sobotka-Charlotte Janeczek Stiftung. He has performed in festivals such as Wien Modern, Allegro Vivo, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Megeve Festival, Pablo Casals festival and Beare’s Premiere Music Festival.

Lee currently plays an 1800 John Betts viola loaned to him by the PostScript Collection through the Beare's International Violin Society.

Currently a Greendale Scholar at the Colburn Music Academy, 17-year-old Blues Zhang was born in a musical family. Following his early studies with his mother, Zhang Xi, violinist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and Jeremy Williams, music director of the Yew Chung International School, Blues is now under the tutelage of Professor Martin Beaver. He will make his debut with the Musicus Society at the Jockey Club Musicus Heritage Stories concert in November 2022.

Zhang has won numerous awards including the winner of the Colburn Music Academy Concerto Competition, first prize in the Concerto Class, and second prize in the String Sonata Class of Hong Kong Youth Catania Music Competition and Ming Classics Online International Classical Competition. He has participated in various categories in the Hong Kong School Music Festival and won top prizes for nine consecutive years, which includes the Hong Kong Strings Scholarship for Stringed Instruments, Violin Concerto Under 19, Violin Duet Senior Category, and Junior String Quartet.

Zhang is currently the second violin principal of the Colburn Academy Virtuosi and has also served as the concertmaster of the Diocesan Boys’ School’s String Orchestra and Hong Kong Camerata Strings. Zhang was awarded a music scholarship at the Diocesan Boys’ School for three consecutive years and was the youngest member to be selected to participate in the 29th Asian Youth Orchestra. He participated in the 2021 Heifetz International Music Institute with the support of the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation. He was also selected to participate in the 2022 Meadowmount Music Festival with a full scholarship.

Zhang has collaborated with the Hong Kong Orchestra, Haw Par Music, Hong Kong String Orchestra, the Hong Kong Generation Next Arts, and the Gustav Mahler Orchestra. In 2022 April, he performed Vivaldi Double Concerto alongside cellist Angeline Kiang with the Colburn Academy Virtuosi. In 2021 June, he appeared as a soloist with the Hong Kong Youth Orchestra, performing the 1st movement of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. He has also performed in various masterclasses including Frank Huang, Kirill Troussov, Janoska Ensemble, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Jing Wang, Leo Phillips, Liang Chai, Richard Bamping, and Leung Kin Fung.

Zhang is a recipient of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund, which sponsors his pre-college program.

Polish violinist Maria Włoszczowska is recognised for her versatile musicianship, performing as soloist, director/concertmaster, and chamber musician.

Włoszczowska began the 2022/23 season with her solo debut at the BBC Proms performing Kaija Saariaho’s Vers toi qui es si loin with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Dinis Sousa. As Leader of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, she also directs a number of programmes; one of this season’s highlights includes directing and performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.

Last season, Włoszczowska gave her New York recital debut at 92NY with Jeremy Denk performing all six Bach Sonatas for violin and keyboard and they return together this season to the Lammermuir Festival.

Włoszczowska appears regularly at the Wigmore Hall and at international festivals such as Musikdorf Ernen in Switzerland, Lammermuir Festival and IMS Prussia Cove das well as a residency at Yellow Barn, Vermont. Distinguished artists such as Jeremy Denk, Bengt Forsberg, and Dinis Sousa have joined her in recital and other chamber music partners have included Thomas Adès, Alasdair Beatson, Philippe Graffin, Benjamin Grosvenor, Steven Isserlis, Steven Osborne, Hyeyoon Park, Timothy Ridout, and the Doric String Quartet. This season also sees the launch of the Valo Quartet, which she leads; they make their debut appearance in Brussels under the auspices of the Festival Resonances.

Recent seasons have seen projects as a guest leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and solo appearances with UK and international ensembles, including symphonic and chamber orchestras in her home country of Poland. This season, Maria returns to Leipzig to appear as soloist with Reinhard Goebel and the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum at the Gewandhaus.

Recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Emily Anderson Prize, the Hattori Foundation Senior Award and Poland's Minister of Culture and National Heritage Prize, she based herself in the UK after completing her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Hungarian violinist and conductor András Keller. In 2018 she won both First Prize and Audience Prize at the XXI Leipzig International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition.

Włoszczowska plays on a violin by Francesco Stradivari.

Chan Yik-heng, Eason is a musician and composer whose work bridges genres ranging from contemporary classical, film scores and jazz to pop, R&B and indie. Having graduated in 2020 from Hong Kong Baptist University majoring in contemporary composition, Chan currently works full-time writing film music under award-winning composer Day Tai. Since 2019, he has contributed to a number of local film and TV productions, such as the hit ViuTV series Leap Day, 940920 and the films Ready or Knot, The Way We Keep Dancing, I Still Remember, and Zero to Hero, the latter two of which Chan also provided the piano arrangements for the theme songs.

Chan is active among the local jazz scene, having played in the Happy Go Lucky Big Band, Hong Kong Youth Jazz Collective and he also founded the Laminar Quarter. Chan has performed at venues such as Tai Kwun, Lau Bak Livehouse and at the Freespace Jazz Fest in 2020 and 2021.

Chan is also interested in indie and pop music. He is a collaborator on the upcoming album of local independent artist Lester Lam. Chan produced the first single off the album Shadows, which was released earlier last year. 

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.

Ken Lo is currently the CEO of SEED Foundation, a charity organization in Hong Kong with the mission to future proof our youths in the digitally-driven economy. SEED delivers a comprehensive learning journey to students from all socio-economic backgrounds, combining academic courses on advanced technological skills with real-life experiences and projects, such that they are equipped with the foundation and domain expertise when they choose their pathways post secondary education.

He is an established business leader with expertise in sales management, business development, strategic planning, and new media, having led Sony Pictures Television in the role of Executive Vice President, managing professionals across 8 locations across Asia. He also had worked for Microsoft and McKinsey & Company.

Currently, Ken is also the Chairperson for RunOurCity Foundation Limited, which promotes running in Hong Kong through large-scale running events, as well as provides long-distance running coaching to youths to demonstrate the virtues and rewards of perseverance and self-confidence, and also serves on the development committee for WWF Hong Kong.

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

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.

As a PR/Marketing expertise, Lilian has been working in IT industry for more than 15 years. Recently, she moved her passion to Venture Capital field and dedicates to incubate the start-ups with potentials using their technology to bring about social change.

Lilian started to support the development of Musicus Society from 2012 and she has actively participated in the works of the committees. Lilian was the first Education Chair and built a solid foundation for ‘Inspires!’ – the education program of Musicus Society. Currently, she is acting as Publicity Chair who is responsible to monitor and approval the overall marketing and promotion plan and daily practice.

Lilian is also a writer. Her articles and culture critiques can be found at local newspapers and online media.

Elizabeth Law, Certified Public Accountant (Practising), managing director of Law & Partners CPA Limited.

Ms. Law is also a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant of Canada and Member of Institute of Chartered Accountant of England & Wales, and a Fellow Member of Certified Public Accountants, Australia and the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong.

She is also the founder of the Association of Women Accountants (Hong Kong) and was the founding president of the Association.  She was the President of the Society of Chinese Accountants and Auditors, and Council Member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and plays an active role in serving the community in both Hong Kong and China, serving as member of many government departments and public organizations including being the member of Equal Opportunities Commission, Hon. Treasurer of Hong Kong Council of Social Services, Member of The Advisory Group of McGill University in Asia, and Council Member of China Overseas Friendship Association etc.

To acknowledge her excellent achievements in promoting the industry, she was awarded the Outstanding Accountant Ambassador in 2003 and one of the 100 Outstanding Chinese Women Entrepreneurs in 2007.

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 arts, media and entertainment sectors, as both a business executive and a pianist. In the 1990s, she was the general manager of IMG China, then the world’s leading sports and music management company. She was one of two key members who created the ground-breaking Chinese National Basketball League with the Chinese Basketball Association. She was influential in helping the state-run sport in China move into the commercial era. From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, she was vice-president of business development at Star TV, previously the Asian subsidiary of News Corporation, and executive producer of the international award-winning film Rice Rhapsody, directed by Kenneth Bi, and starring Sylvia Chang, Martin Yan and Melanie Laurent.

In classical music, Ms. Lee has brought leading European orchestras and international artists to tour China, and in 2010, she co-founded Musicus Society, of which she continues to serve as president. In 2020, she was awarded a Commendation for Community Service by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR.

Ms. Lee received her MBA from Harvard Business School, and graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts. She attended the pre-college and college divisions of The Juilliard School in New York on Julliard scholarships, studying piano under Oxana Yablonskaya and Jane Carlson. She has won numerous awards in North America and Hong Kong, including the Juilliard Concerto Competition, the International Grand Rapids Young Keyboard Artist Competition and the Canadian National Competition. As well as performing as a soloist, she has also formed a trio with her siblings, cellist Trey Lee and violinist Chui-Tan Lee.

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.

Tiffany Soong has over 25 years of experience in art and media. She co-founded Gurung Tea, a social enterprise and certified B Corp, aiming to improve livelihood of farmers in Nepal. She held senior positions in Phoenix Culture and Global Culture Asset Management (GCAM)where She has led the team to provide design, exhibition, development and implementation plans of museum and culture projects in China. Prior to joining GCAM, she founded Magic Beans Media where she achieved nationwide coverage of her self-produced preschooler TV programs.

Tiffany received her MBA in from Yale University. She is an advisor to Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai (MoCA Shanghai) and she had curated an exhibition at MoCA in 2014.

Mr. Wong is a Solicitor of Hong Kong and Solicitor of England and Wales. As a senior partner of Liu, Chan and Lam, his areas of practice include contentious and non-contentious commercial and company matters, insolvency and financial restructuring. With the experience and knowledge gained from his legal profession, Mr. Wong serves as the Honorary Legal Advisor of Junior Chamber International Hong Kong, Legal Advisor of Hong Kong Paediatric Rheumatism Association and Vice-Chairman of Hong Kong Anti-Doping Appeal Panel of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China. His other roles in public service include serving on the Board of The Tsinforn C. Wong Memorial Scholarship (run by Jean M. Wong School of Ballet).

Mr. Wong is also the former Vice President of the Lions Club of Hong Kong Island.