Kwan Sheung Fung│Associate Principal Cor Anglais│Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

Kwan Sheung-fung graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with distinction in 2009, majoring in Oboe and minoring in Cor Anglais. He studied under the tutelage of Mr. Yiu Song-Lam and was a recipient of numerous scholarships. Upon graduation he was awarded Bernard van Zuiden Music Scholarship from Hong Kong Philharmonic Society to further his studies in Germany. He then obtained his Master of Music (Oboe) with "Sehr gut (Point 1)" result at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe in 2011, under the guidance of Prof. Thomas Indermühle. He also studied Cor Anglais with Anette Schütz, Marie-lise Schüpbach and baroque Oboe with Susanne Regel. He received tuition from Ingo Goritzki, Günther Passin, Christian Schmitt, Jacques Tys as well as François Leleux.

Kwan is now the Cor Anglais player of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also performed extensively with Hong Kong Sinfonietta, City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, Macao Orchestra and Singapore Symphony. He was a member of Asian Youth Orchestra and Baltic Youth Philharmonic and made concert tours in Asia and Europe. He appeared in numerous music festivals in Europe, including Aurora Music Festival in Sweden, Estate Musicale Frentana and MiTo SettembreMusica in Italy and Usedomer Musikfestival in Germany. His playing has often earned positive reviews from music critics and his Swan of Tuonela performance in 2012 with Vladimir Ashkenazy was certainly one of such highlights. He currently serves in the faculties of HKAPA and the Chinese University.

Source: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, https://www.hkphil.org/tc/player/kwan-sheung-fung

Lau Wai│Clarinet│Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

A native of Hong Kong, Lau Wai has appeared in concerts at the Bari International Music Festival, Yellow Barn Music Festival, The Banff Centre, Norfolk Music Festival, and Lachine Music Festival; collaborating with such artists as the Peabody Trio, Russell Braun, James Campbell, Ettore Causa, Mark Fewer, Peter Frankl, Marc Johnson, Joel Quarrington, David Shifrin, James Sommerville, Roger Tapping, Stephen Taylor, and Paul Watkins, among others. She has performed concerts throughout the United States, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Poland, and South Africa. She was awarded Grand Prize in the Canadian National Music Festivals Competition, the Harold Wright Award from the Boston Woodwind Society, and the Alumni Association Prize from Yale School of Music. In addition, she has been a finalist at the Alexandre Tansman International Competition in Łódź, Poland. Under the tutelage of James Campbell, she received her Bachelor's degree with distinction from Indiana University, where she was also awarded the Performer's Certificate for outstanding performance in clarinet. She received her Master’s degree in Music at McGill University. She also holds an Artist Diploma from Yale School of Music.

Source: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, https://www.hkphil.org/tc/player/lau-wai

Homer Lee│Horn│Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

Homer Lee joined the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) in 1987 and has been on the faculty of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) since 1988. In addition to his teaching duties there, he also conducts the HKAPA's Junior Symphony Orchestra.

Homer has studied with many internationally renowned hornists including Cheryl Hoard (former Principal Horn, HK Phil), Roland Pandolfi (former Principal Horn, St Louis Symphony Orchestra), Alan Civil (solo artist), Dale Clevenger (former Principal Horn, Chicago Symphony Orchestra), David Krehbiel (former Principal Horn, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra) and Derek Taylor (former Principal Horn, BBC Symphony Orchestra).

Homer has long been active in Hong Kong's music circles, even in his teens. He joined the Hong Kong Youth Symphony Orchestra (HKYSO) in 1978 with whom he toured the UK, France and Australia in the summers of 1979 and 1980. He was Principal Horn with the HKYSO until he began studying at the HKAPA in 1983. He soon won many major prizes, such as the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarship from 1983 to 1985 and the Lady MacLehose Prize to study at the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1985.

Being one of the region's most active horn players and teachers, Homer's highlight performances include with the Orchestra of the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields during their Hong Kong visit and participating in the Asian Friendly Concerts in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1994 and 1995, as a representative of the HK Phil. He records extensively in the studio as well as for many music appreciation programmes on the television and radio. The Macau Culture Department has invited him to give horn masterclasses, workshops, wind quintet concerts and to be an adjudicator for the Youth Music Competition as part of the Macau Youth Music Festival.

Source: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, https://www.hkphil.org/tc/player/homer-lee

Nancy Loo, Piano

Nancy Loo is one of the most versatile artists in Hong Kong, being pianist, radio programme host, actress, writer and educator all in one. She currently teaches at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The University of Hong Kong. She attended the Juilliard School and The Royal Northern College of Music. Her teachers included Mieczyslaw Munz, Adele Marcus, Vlado Perlemuter, Guido Agosti, Ryszard Bakst and Derek Wyndham. In 1976, she won first prize at the 4th Rina Sala Gallo International Competition in Monza, and has since won awards in many other international competitions, including the Marguerite Long International Competition in Paris.

Loo has performed in concerts in Europe, North America and Asia. She has appeared as a soloist with The Juilliard Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Radio Symphony Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and National Philharmonic of the Philippines. In Hong Kong, she has played with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. She appears frequently in festivals and events on the local music scene. She was the founder of the piano and woodwind sextet ‘Les Six’ and is currently a member of the ‘LENK Quartet’.

Apart from stage performances, Loo is active in the recording studio. Her notable recordings include Nai Chung Kuan’s Ambush from All Sides with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra; Doming Lam’s Moonlight on the Spring River; a piano hymns collection; Schoenberg’s Lieder with soprano Jasmine Law and Brahms’ 21 Hungarian Dances with violinist Leung Kin Fung. Loo has also contributed to the soundtracks of films The Map of Sex and Love (2001), The Source of Love (2002) and more.

Loo is the host of the music programmes Cantilena and Children’s Corner at Radio Television Hong Kong. She was one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons, a recipient of the Medal of Honour by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and was named Artist of the Year (Music) by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. She has been a volunteer to inmate rehabilitation since 2012, where she pays frequent visits and teaches music in the prisons.

Olivier Nowak│Co-Principal Flute│Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

Olivier Nowak joined the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008 where he is currently Co-Principal Flute.  In his native France he was regularly invited to perform in the Opéra de Paris Orchestra, as well as with the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy (holding the Principal Flute position for the 2005/06 season interim), and others.

Olivier began learning the flute at the age of eight, under the tutelage of Jean-Claude Laziosi, a charismatic teacher and champion of the great Marseille school of flute playing. He continued his musical education with Frédéric Chatoux, the Principal flute of the Paris Opera, before entering the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in the class of Sophie Cherrier.  At the Conservatoire he was unanimous choice for a First Prize, passed his Chamber Music Prize in the class of Maurice Bourgue, and was involved in the Woodwind Quintet class of László Hadady. He is a prize-winner of the Henri Tomasi International Woodwind Quintet Competition in Marseille.

Being in high demand as a teacher, Olivier is an adjunct faculty at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Hong Kong Baptist University, and gives occasional masterclasses in Hong Kong and the UK.
 

Source: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, https://www.hkphil.org/player/olivier-nowak

Sophia Woo Shui Fai│Percussion│Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

Sophia Woo is a percussionist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra as well as a percussion instructor at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Sophia Woo started her music studies at the HKAPA, majoring in percussion with Mr. Lung Heung-wing. After graduating with distinction in 1990, she was awarded The Bernard Van Zuiden Music Fund Scholarship for advanced studies at London - Guildhall School of Music and Drama with David Corkhill (Principal Percussion, Philharmonia Orchestra), Michael Skinner (Principal Percussion, Royal Opera House) and Terry Emery (Percussion, BBC Symphony Orchestra).

In England , she was selected as a member of the Guildhall New Music Ensemble, giving various performances and touring overseas to her hometown of Hong Kong in May 1991. In the summer of the same year, she performed Xenakis' "Rebounds" for the "Young Musician of the Year-- Percussion Master Class, 1991" for a BBC-TV broadcast.

Before starting with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992, she had been freelancing with the orchestra for five years and served as Principal Percussion with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the Macau Chamber Orchestra.

Sophia Woo is involved with many chamber music and solo works. She performed at the ISCM-ACL World Music Days Festival, and represented the HKPO at the Asian Friendly Concert in Fukuoka , Japan in 1994. In December of the same year, she performed the Berlioz Requiem with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with Seiji Ozawa conducting. One of the founders of Jenga -- The Hong Kong Percussion Quartet, set up in 1998, she has also performed with the Hong Kong Percussion Group. In 1999, the HKPG gave a series of concerts at the Culture of Europe Festival, in Weimar , Germany.

In addition to her busy performance and teaching schedule, Sophia has also given lessons in Macau before 2004 as a volunteer and workshops at the Macau Youth Music Festival in 2001 and 2002, a programme of the Cultural Institute of the Macau S.A.R. Government.

Sophia is very enthusiastic about the music education in Hong Kong . She has been invited to give masterclasses and workshops presented by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 2004 and was invited to be a juror of the Hong Kong Young Musician of the Year 2008 and 2010.

Apart from performing in the concert hall, Sophia gives a a lot of ensemble visits to the primary schools, secondary schools, special needs schools and universities in Hong Kong under the Young Audience Scheme by the HKPO. As a volunteer, Sophia also hosted a drum circle class as a music therapy for the Beacon Hill School in 2011 and 2012.

Source: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, https://www.hkphil.org/tc/player/sophia-woo-shuk-fai