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Guest Conductor
Sharon Andrea Choa
Violin Soloist
Athena SHIU Suet-yin
04/10
Academy Symphony Concert Concert Hall, 7.30pm Fri
The Barber of Seville, Overture Gioachino Rossini
“Symphonie Espagnole” for Violin & Orchestra, Op. 21 Édouard Lalo
I.Allegronontroppo II. Scherzando.III. IntermezzoIV.Andante.V. Rondo
Soloist: AthenaSHIUSuet-yin(VisitingStudent) C O N C E R T P R O G R A M M E
I. Poco Sostenuto-Vivace II Allegretto III Presto IV Allegro con brio I N T E R M I S S I O N
Symphony No. 7, Op.92 in A major Ludwig van Beethoven
About 100 minutes in length with a 15-minutes intermission
SHARON ANDREA CHOA
GUEST CONDUCTOR
In 2007, Sharon was nominated as ‘inspirational woman of the world’ with her portrait appearing in the National Gallery. Her achievements as musician, conductor and entrepreneur are featured in Zerbanoo Gifford’s book “Confessions to a Serial Womaniser” Trained rigorously both as a performer and academic, Sharon possesses the intellectual prowess always to seek the deepest meaning and the innermost essence of the composers ’ thoughts in her interpretation of musical works. Her mixed ancestry encourages an understanding of the value and strength of crosscultural ties and interdisciplinary connections in her programming ideas Sharon’s long-years practice of the art of Taiji makes for a physical approach to conducting that focuses on the inner strength of the body and mind. Her premiere of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in Chinese at the 2004 BBC Proms ‘East meets West’ series established her as a conductor of remarkable musical abilities and intensity
Born in Hong Kong and enjoyed an exceptional Anglo-Chinese education, Sharon excelled in the violin at an early age and first began conducting at the age of 16 She was later accepted at the Royal Academy of Music as a violinist to study under the great quartet leader Sidney Griller. Sharon also holds a First Class B.Mus. and Ph.D degrees from King's College London. During her studies at King’s, her talent of conducting was rediscovered and coached by the conductors Lawrence Leonard, Diego Masson, Georg Tintner, Janos Fürst, Jiří Bĕlohlávek and Sir Colin Davis Trained rigorously both in performance and academia, she became the Director of Performance and Lecturer in Music at the University of East Anglia (UEA) Norwich in 1996; taking over the UEA Symphony Orchestra as Chief Conductor. Since then, she has taken the orchestra on tour to Germany, Italy, Austria and Moravia as well as being the guest conductor of professional orchestras in Germany, Russia, the Czech Republic and Hong Kong
In 2001, Sharon founded Chamber Orchestra Anglia (COA), a professional ensemble that draws together creative, cultural and academic strengths in the UK The orchestra has presented a numerous of concerts that earned itself a reputation for its innovative programming. Whilst in the U.K, Sharon has been awarded many performance and academic prizes and has been given individual grants by Arts Council England, the British Academy, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Council to further develop her musical and entrepreneurial activities. She was awarded the Norfolk Arts Award and the A.R.A.M. (Associate of the Royal Academy of Music) in 2014 At the same year when she returned to her birthplace, Hong Kong, she took up the position as Dean of the School of Music at the HK Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) In 2022, Sharon created a new department - Conducting & Cultural Leadership - within the School and shifted her position to lead and direct this new initiative
In Hong Kong, she was the guest conductor of the HK Philharmonic, and was Principal Guest conductor of the HK New Music Ensemble – taking the ensemble on tour to the Tong Yeong Festival and the Gwangju Festival in Korea, as well as performing in a series of high-profile concerts in Hong Kong In 2016, she and her colleagues at the HKAPA founded an Philharmonia APA (PAPA), ensemble made up of the distinguished graduates from the School of Music Since then, Sharon has taken the ensemble on tour to Vienna, and performed in different venues in Hong Kongwhich received considerable acclaim Also, Sharon has been serving as the chief resident conductor of the APA Symphony Orchestra, performing regularly with the orchestra locally as well as on tour to Taipei, Beijing, and Shenzhen She has also conducted many composition workshops at APA, giving young student composers the opportunity to record and perform their works live In 2019, she co-founded The Orchestra Academy in partnership with the HK Philharmonic Orchestra, giving APA’s distinguished graduates a chance to further hone their skills in the professional world In 2023 Summer, she led the first Greater Bay Area Youth Orchestra (GBAYO) tour as its Music Director. Recently, Sharon has also worked with Academy’s Chinese Orchestra as well as presenting an evening of Guzheng Concertos with the HK City Chamber Orchestra. Earlier this year, she recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra under the label Warner Music
In her spare time, Sharon is an ardent Qigong and Taiji practitioner, as well as a keen student of Chinese calligraphy. In her life’s path, Sharon has been following the teachings of Zen Buddhism (Kwan Um School) and is currently a student at the Su Bong Zen Monastery
ATHENA SHIU SUET YIN
VIOLINIST
Violinist Athena Shiu has garnered many top prizes in international and HK Competitions including top prize in violin solo and grand prize in the Chamber Music Division at the Hong Kong Generation Next Arts International Music Competition She was a winner in the HKAPA Concerto Competition, and a top prize winner in the Cremona International Competition for Strings 2016 in Italy. She was also a 2nd prize winner in the Llangollen International Music Competition in the UK in 2015
Athena has served as a soloist for the Hong Kong Children’s Symphony Orchestra, the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra and the HKAPA Academy Symphony Orchestra. She was appointed as the concertmistress of the HKAPA Academy Symphony Orchestra, the HKGNA Young Virtuosi and more. Athena performed and participated in many music festivals around the world including the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, the 38th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival, the Taipei Music Academy and Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. She also participated in masterclasses held by renowned musicians such as Jimmy Lin, Sarah Chang, Felix Andrievsky and Glenn Dicterow.
She is an Asian Cultural Council Fellow (2024), in which she was awarded the Lady Fung Music Fellowship. Athena is also a SAPA (The Society of APA) scholar in academic years 23/24 & 22/23 She has been awarded full scholarships from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts which includes the Chan Chung-on Violin Performance Merit Award, the Wong Wai Ming Memorial Scholarship, Mr & Mrs Y S Liu Scholarships and HKAPA Scholarships. Athena is currently under the tutelage of Professor Michael Ma at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
ACADEMY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Within the HKAPA’s School of Music, orchestral training is a significant part of the students’ education All students of orchestral instruments participate in the Academy Symphony Orchestra, whose weekly rehearsals cover the standard symphonic literature as well as contemporary works Academy Symphony Orchestra not only has extensive performance experience locally but also learns and collaborates with numerous internationally renowned orchestras and conductors, such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and guest conductors such as Jaap van Zweden, Marko Ivanovi, François-Xavier Roth, Pietro Mianiti, Stuart Stratford, Pietro Mianiti, Patrick Furrer, Andrew Mogrelia, Eitan Globerson, Yip Wing-sie, Lio Kuokman, Ip Wing-wun amongst many others The orchestra members have toured to Beijing and Shanghai to join professional orchestral concerts and to Jerusalem and Taiwan to give chamber recitals. They also collaborated with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta in their Penderecki project and participated in the Hong Kong Philharmonic’s “Share the Stage’’ events Maestro Jaap van Zweden, Music Director of Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra along with musicians from the orchestra, have made multiple visits to the Academy instructing the orchestra in the interpretation of various pieces With the Academy Choir, they performed Bach’s Christmas Oratorio under the direction of Helmut Rilling The Orchestra has a busy performing schedule every academic year including playing for our annual opera production
In October 2016, the Orchestra was invited to perform in the Festive Korea Gala Concert presented by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea at the Concert Hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre together with three international Korean violinist Hyuna Kim, violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill and cellist Clara Minhye Kim In June 2017 the Orchestra joined forces with the Shenzhen Arts School Philharmonic Orchestra to perform in two concerts which were held in Shenzhen and Hong Kong respectively In October 2017 the Orchestra visited Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA) and performed with the wind and percussion students from TNUA to critical acclaim. In June 2018 “Concerto Feast” was broadcasted by RTHK Radio 4, showcasing the talents of the student soloists and the ensemble In October 2019, the strings of the orchestra joint-hands with their counterpart in TNUA and were invited to perform in their Kuandu Arts Festival in Taipei for a second time In July 2022, the orchestra collaborated with the Academy Choir to host a celebratory concert marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
In December 2023, the orchestra received the prestigious invitation to perform at the closing concert of the 10th Hong Kong New Generation Arts Association Music Festival The event featured performances by renowned pianist Bai Jianyu and violinist Zhu Dan. The concert was recorded and scheduled for broadcast in May 2024 across various Asian regions, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and others, via CJENM (Asia’s premier entertainment media channel, tvN Asia) Additionally, one of the commissioned pieces, Scintillae oder “froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen ” composed by Tanja Glinsner a newly acclaimed composer in Europe was recorded during our concert This piece was broadcasted in June 2024 on Österreich 1's 'Klassik-Treffpunkt' program, highlighting the musical prowess of our Academy Symphony Orchestra to the European audience.
VIOLIN I
FUNG Cheuk-yin*
(Concertmaster)
CHOW Chung-yu*
LEUNG Man-him
LEE O Rio*
CHAN Ka-yee Chloe
LI Shiming
LO Sze-wing^
LAM Hiu-wai^
WONG Wing-hong
CHEN Jiyu
TONG Ho-ching#
YANG Langjian
David YIP Yan-chi
VIOLIN II
WU Wanying^
(Section Principal)
MAK Hoi-kiu
CHAN Nok Judy^
IP Hong-ni*
LEUNG Yat-hei
LAM Hiu-han
LAM Tsz-ho
HO Hiu-ki^
WONG Chin-kei
WONG Man-ching
WU Zhilin
LAU Tai-wang Thomas
HAN Man-chun
CHING Hui-yee
VIOLA
WONG Ming-yeung Melvin*
(Section Principal)
WONG Wing-hung Claire*
LIN Charles Yik-kiu*
WONG Ki-chung
WONG Chak-kiu^
CHAN Joab
CHUNG Wan-yan
ZHANG Yang
PANG Hei-yeung
CHAN Lok-ka
GONG Junyi
YEUNG King-tim
DONG Li
LI Zijun
CELLO
WONG Yi-ki Erica^
(Section Principal)
CHAN Ching-wei Trevor*
CHEUNG Hei-man*
MAK Yui-wan
LEUNG Tse Ming^
LIU Yuemeng#
HUANG Jiaxin
ZHENG Churou
WONG Ho-ming^
PAN Anqi
CHEUNG Ho-hei Horace*
CHEN Junhao
HUANG Xinyi
YEUNG Wincy Eunis
ZHENG Mohan
LAI Yik-ming
BASS
SO Lok-yee
(Section Principal)
WANG Shenhao
ZHANG Yiqing
YANG Yipeng
DU Hairong
WU Xintong
FLUTE
LEONG Ieng-ieng Eryn
LEUNG Wing-hang Lolo
LIN Xiaotung
IP Wing-tung Chelsea
PICCOLO
LEUNG Wing-hang Lolo
LOH Pui-kiu Kiwi
OBOE
CHAN Chun-young Ernest
CHEN Hanyu Jacky
MA Kaiwen Kevin
YU Wai-shun Vincent
CLARINET
CHUM Chun-shing Daniel
HE Kemi Camille
LAM Long Alfred
TSA Tsz-yin Kevin
BASSOON
Aphichat DECHASOPHON
CHUNG Cheuk Lam Alice
LO Yan Tung Nichole
OR Yuk Man Tom
HORN
CEVIK Adam
CHEONG Man U Derrick
LIN Han
SIU Chun-sing
YEUNG Hei-chun Jason
TRUMPET
LAU Cheuk-ming Johnny TO Hau-suet Venus
WONG Ching-hey Harvey
WONG Lok-yung Matthew
TROMBONE
CHENG Tin-nam Jonathan TO Hau-tung Viann
WONG Ho-ching Issac
YIU Dorcas
TUBA
CHAN Chak Hong
TIMPANI & PERCUSSION
FU Siqi Sich
IM Pui Yan
NG Chun-sze Emma
TUNG Hiu-wai Valencia
WONG Jun-hin Jeffrey
HARP
LEONG Tong I
INSTRUMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Theinstrumentsusedinthisperformancearegenerouslyloanedby
*TheHongKongJockeyClubCharitiesTrust
^TheAcademyStringInstrumentsCollectionfromSchoolofMusic
#Dr YUChungPing
ACADEMY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONCERT
7.30PM
MOZART MARRIAGE OF FIGARO OVERTURE
NOVEMBER22, 2024(FRI) DVOŘÁK SYMPHONY NO. 7
WEBER DER FREISCHÜTZ OVERTURE
GUEST CONDUCTOR: YIP WING SIE
STUDENT CONDUCTORS: NG KWOK HEI ERIC (MMUS 2) & GUO JINGNING (MMUS 2)
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Fong Tsz-wai
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Cheung Hei-man
The presenter reserves the right to change programmes and performers
Concert Poster Designer: LIU Tsz Shing Jason