| Conductors:
Chan Wing-wah has written over a hundred works including eight symphonies of which five are recorded with the label of Hugo Productions. Internationally he had received the first prize of the International Double Reed Society Composition Contest in USA and the Yoshiro Irino Memorial Award. His orchestral work 'Transit' had been selected as one of the "20th Century Masterpieces by Chinese Composers" by the China Culture Promotion Society in Beijing. Locally he had been presented the 1991 Composer of the Year Award by the Hong Kong Artists Guild and the 1992 Outstanding Young Person's Award. His music had also won him the 1997 Most-Performed Local Serious Work and the 2004 Best Serious Music Composition, Golden Sail Award presented by the Composers & Authors Society of HK. He was the first Composer-in-Residence of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and had conducted the orchestra to premiere his 5th and 6th Symphonies plus several other works. He had also conducted the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra to premiere his Symphony No.7 in 2004. Other performers of his music had included the Kronos Ouartet, USA; Kroumata Ensemble, Sweden; Ensemble Antipodes, Switzerland; The Fires of London, UK; St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Russia, and other orchestras in Romania, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong. His recent premiere had included a new string quartet "The Flying Apsaras" in Stuttgart, Germany during the International Society for Contemporary Music World Music Days Festival 2006 and a septet "Into Immensity" written for the 2006 Summer Music Festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The same year 2006 also saw the performance of his other works in Trieste Prima Festival in Trieste, Italy; Alesander Tansman Music Festival in Lodz, Poland; Festival LIM 2Mil in Madrid and the Festival BBK in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. His three orchestral works were also performed by The China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra and the China National Ballet Symphony Orchestra in summer 2006. Chan Wing-wah learned how to read music notation the summer after his Form 5 examination and started to play piano a year later. As a late starter, he eventually enrolled into the Music Department at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and finished his Bachelor degree as a music major and German minor. He was then awarded a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship for five years enabling him to finish his Master and Doctoral studies in music composition at the University of Toronto. He had taught in the Music Department at The Chinese University of Hong Kong from 1986-2006 with 13 years as Department Chairman and several years as Associate Dean of Arts. He had been Chairman of the Hong Kong Composers' Guild and a member of the Arts Development Council for over ten years. He became Music Director of the Hong Kong Oratorio Society in 1995 after a few successful collaborations including the premiere of his Symphony No. 4 "Te Deum" commissioned to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Hong Kong City Hall. He had also conducted choirs and orchestras of Vancouver, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Macau and Hong Kong. Chan is currently Chairman of the Composers & Authors Society of Hong Kong, Chairman of the Jockey Club Music & Dance Fund, Honorary Music Director of the Hong Kong Children's Choir and advisor to numerous organizations including the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Leisure & Cultural Services Department, etc. Carmen KOON graduated from the Music Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She obtained a scholarship to study conducting with Professor C. A. Bünte (Celibidache's student) at Hochschule der Künste Berlin. She was invited to take part in the Aspen Music Festival in 1997 and studied with Maestro Murry Sidlin and David Zinman. She was also invited to participate in the International Conducting Competition for Young Orchestra Directors in Portugal in 1997 and was awarded the honorary prize. She has worked with various orchestras including Berliner Symphoniker, Neubrandenburg Philharmonie, West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra, Janacek Philharmonie, Martinu Philharmonie, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, Hradec Kralove Philharmonic Orchestra, Zelina Chamber Orchestra, Kromeriz Chamber Orchestra, Szeged Philharmonie, Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, Karelia Philharmonie, Sochi Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Ai Yue Women's Chamber Orchestra, Harbin Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hong Kong Philharmonic Ensemble, Hong Kong Strings and Macau Orchestra. She was the Music Director of the Hong Kong Medical Association Orchestra and the Principal Conductor of the Hong Kong Children's Choir. Her performance of Schumann's Requiem, Verdi's Four Sacred Pieces, Charpentier's Te Deum (H146) and Gounod's Messe Solennelle with Hong Kong Oratorio Society received great acclaim. She is currently the Music Director of Chung Chi College Orchestra and Chung Chi Choir of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Music Director of the Hong Kong Baptist College Orchestra and St. Stephen's Girls' College Orchestra, the Principal Conductor of Hong Kong Strings, the Principal Guest Conductor of the Beijing Ai Yue Women's Chamber Orchestra, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Music Department of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. "Carmen KOON is a young conductor of exceptional talent.... She has many gifts: an excellent sense of rhythm, a clear and attractive beat..." Dr. Georg Tintner, Conductor Laureate of Symphony Nova Scotia. "Carmen KOON is enormously talented; she has a very clean, clear and expressive technique with which to communicate her sensitive and interesting artistry. She is impressively intelligent, and creates an atmosphere while on the podium of joyous music making; I have observed that musicians love to play under her direction." Murry Sidlin, Music Director of Nevada Symphony; Resident Conductor of Oregon Symphony. Patrick is a choral artist originated in Hong Kong. He has resided in Vienna, participated in the local professional performances and received tuition from professors at the Vienna Conservatory. In 2003, he earned a scholarship to study at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he received his Master’s degree in choral conducting. During his stay in Europe and the United States, he has worked with and studied under world-known maestros like Helmuth Rilling, James Levine and Harry Christophers, to name a few. Patrick is currently the artistic director of the Hong Kong Melody Makers and a member of the renowned a cappella group, the Gay Singers. He teaches the Master’s programme in his alma mater, the music department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Patrick is also a council member of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and an examiner of the Arts Development Council. Being appointed as the Youth Committee member of the International Federation of Choral Music (IFCM), Patrick frequently attends world choral conferences as a representative of the Asian region. In 2008, he has been appointed as the organizing committee member of the World Youth Choir. Patrick is dedicated to promote choral music in various realms. Recent highlights include a theatrical choral concert Rock Hard (concept creator and choral director) commissioned by the New Vision Arts Festival in 2008 (re-run in Shanghai Expo 2010); a cappella theatre The Lark (music director and composer) produced by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre in 2009; Bach St John Passion (conductor) presented by Die Konzertisten in 2009; Japan a cappella Movement 2009 in Tokyo (adjudicator); a cappella theatre The Adventure of Tom Sawyer (music director and composer) produced by Shu Ning Presentation Unit in 2010; Helmuth Rilling’s Discovery Series: Bach St John Passion (conductor) organized by Taipei Bach Festival 2010; Hong Kong 2010 International a cappella Festival (programme director, invited The Real Group) organized by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups; Helmuth Rilling’s Discovery Series: Bach B-minor Mass (conductor) organized by 2010 Oregon Bach Festival, USA; World Choir Games 2010 in Shaoxing (conductor, won two gold awards with HKMM). In local pop scene, Patrick’s working partners include Hins Cheung, Khalil Fong, Chet Lam, Ivana Wong etc. |