29h Macao Young Musicians Competition
Adjudicators
(in alphabetical order of the surnames)
Andrew Ma
Andrew Ma had been awarded numerous scholarships and awards, including the Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarship, The Bernard Van Zuiden Scholarship and The Standard Chartered Bank Scholarship. He was the winner of the Singapore Rolex Performance Award, the second runner-up in the Mozart Bicentenary Piano Competition of Asia and the first runner-up in the Hong Kong Selection Competition for the First China International Piano Competition.
As an active performer, Ma had given performances in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong. In 1996, Ma was invited to give a recital on Vladimir Horowitz’s private piano. In 1999, he premièred with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta Kuan Nai-chung’s Fifth Piano Concerto at the concert in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. He had also appeared as guest performer in the “Shanghai Spring International Music Festival 2008” and the “First Asian Grand Piano Concert” held in Seoul in 2006 and Kuala Lumpur in 2009.
Ma had also performed as soloist with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Guam Symphony, the Shanghai Broadcast Symphony, the Singapore Symphony and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and made recordings for radios and televisions in Canada, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
Graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Andrew Ma furthered his studies at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Canada, where he graduated with first class honor. He benefited from the tutelage of Margaret Lynn, John Winther, Gabriel Kwok, Boris Lysenko and Li Mingqiang.
Ma serves as adjudicator for many piano competitions and gives master classes and lectures in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Korea. Aside from teaching at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Hong Kong Baptist University and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ma is also appointed as the Course Consultant for the Chinese University of Hong Kong, School of Continuing Studies, and the guest professor at the School of Literature of Beijing Normal University Zhuhai Campus.
Ann Huang
After graduating from the Taipei Hwa Kang Professional Arts School where she majored in Konghou, an ancient Chinese harp, Ann Huang was awarded a scholarship to study at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Since graduation, she joined the Hong Kong Sinfonietta as Harp Principal. Apart from her position at the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, she lectures part-time at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Hong Kong Chinese University and the Hong Kong Music Office. She also freelances for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Kam Wing-Chong
Born in Hong Kong, Kam Wing-Chong is an active solo and collaborative pianist. Since his first public concert in Hong Kong at 10, he has been performing in major cities on four continents. Kam was invited to perform numerous times in the Government House in the presence of Governor Chris Patten. Under the sponsorship of Chopin Society of Hong Kong, he has appeared in many local and international festivals including the 16th Chopin Autumn Festival. Kam has also given solo and chamber music concerts in the Carinthia Summer Festival, the International Holland Music Sessions, TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute and the Aspen Music Festival.
Kam’s collaborations with world-renowned conductors and orchestras in the past include the Queensland Philharmonic, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Academy Symphony Orchestra, Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Medical Association Orchestra and City University Philharmonic. Recently he premiered Eduard Schütt’s Paraphrase for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra with Hong Kong Philharmonic.
In the previous years, Kam was a recipient of numerous prizes and awards. He got the first prizes in the 4th Junior Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and the 1997 Hong Kong International Piano Competition. He was awarded the second prize in the 2003 CSMTA Young Artist Piano Competition in Connecticut. Kam received twice the Elizabeth Parisot Prize at Yale and his Ligeti Horn Trio group also won the Yale Chamber Music Competition, which led to the performance in the finale concert of the Yale Chamber Music Society’s Subscription Series.
Kam began his piano studies at 5 and has studied with pianists and pedagogues Eleanor Wong and Boris Berman. He was awarded full scholarships from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Asian Cultural Council, Hong Kong Jockey Club and Yale University for his undergraduate and postgraduate studies. He has taught piano, theory, ear-training and chamber music in Hong Kong, China and the United States and has served as an adjudicator of several competitions. Since 2002, Kam has been teaching at the Hong Kong Summer Music and he is now an adjunct teaching faculty at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Jackson Leung
Dr. Jackson Leung, Professor of Music, is Coordinator of Keyboard Studies and Director of the Chamber Orchestra at Wright State University. He is the recipient of the 2010 Robert J. Kegerreis Distinguished Professor of Teaching Award at WSU and the 2011 Southwest Ohio Council for Higher Education Award for Excellence in Teaching. In addition to attaining the L.R.S.M. performance diploma from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, England, Dr. Leung received his degrees in piano performance from Hong Kong Baptist University, Temple University, and the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. Jackson was the first-prize winner in the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, the second-prize winner in the Young Keyboard Artists Association International Piano Competition, and the "Albert Roussel" Prize at the École Normale de Musique, Paris, as well as the “Conductor of Exceptional Merit” Award at the International Repertoire Workshop for Orchestral Conductors in the Czech Republic.
As a pianist, Jackson Leung has performed in France, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, and throughout the United States and Canada. With his wife, Dr. Benita Tse-Leung, Leung had performed duo recitals and made concerto appearances throughout the U.S. and abroad, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Bermuda, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, and numerous other cities in mainland China. In Hong Kong, he has performed in all the major venues and the Governor's House. The Leung-Tse duo was awarded first prize in the Teacher Duo Division at the Ohio Music Teachers Association Graves Competition in Columbus in 1996 and 1998. Their CD, entitled “Danzas,” was released in the summer of 2001.
As a teacher he has produced student winners at numerous state, regional, national, and international competitions, including The Stravinsky Awards International Competition, Bartók-Kabalevsky International Competition, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Blue Ash Symphony Concerto Auditions, among others.
As a conductor, he has been featured as guest conductor with the Pan Asia Symphony, Hrádec Králove Philharmonic, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic (Czech Republic), the Macao Orchestra, the Westsächsisches Symphonieorchester (Germany), Orquestra Sinfónica Jovem de Macau, the Hong Kong Children’s Symphony Orchestra, and the Seven Hills Sinfonietta. Leung has led Wright State University Orchestras in performances throughout the Miami Valley, including performances at the Schuster Performing Arts Center, Dayton Arts Institute, Corbett Auditorium at CCM, and at the Ohio Music Education Association Professional Conference in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005. The Chamber Orchestra also took an international tour in 2006, performing at the prestigious Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall and the Macau Cultural Center Grand Auditorium. A CD recording of Leung and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, consisting of works by Shostakovich, Debussy, Piazzolla, and Barber, was released by Centaur Records.
A sought-after adjudicator, Leung has judged numerous competitions including the World Piano Pedagogy Conference Competition, Music Teachers National Association Regional Auditions, College-Conservatory of Music Piano Scholarship and Concerto Competitions, Hong Kong Music Festival, Macao Young Musicians Competition, among others.
Jackson Leung has written articles for various music journals and periodicals including The Instrumentalist, Clavier, Keyboard Companion, American Music Teachers, and Triad.
He has also presented papers and workshops at international, nationals, and regional conferences including the World Piano Pedagogy Conference, the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, College Music Society National and Regional Conferences, and the OMEA Conference. He has collaborated with such eminent artists as pianists Menahem Pressler, Michael Lewin, Ralph Votapek, Alan Chow, Cheng-Zhong Yin, among others.
Vivian Li
Born into a family of artists, Chinese-Canadian pianist Dr. Vivian Li began her career at the age of five with her debut at Guangzhou’s Friendship Opera House and has gone on to steadily build a career as one of China’s most respected young musicians. She currently serves as Associate Professor of Piano at Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, China.
Dr. Li began her studies at the age of four under the tutelage of her father, renowned Chinese pianist Qi Li and supervision of her mother, renowned Chinese classical ballerina Xianping Su. After a period of study at Xinghai Consevatory’s Affiliated Middle School, Dr. Li immigrated to Toronto, Canada where she completed high school and her Artist Diploma from Canada’s Royal Conservatory of Music. Following this, she was accepted with full scholarship to Oberlin Conservatory where she did her undergraduate studies with the esteemed French pianist, Monique Duphil, herself a student of Marguerite Long. Upon graduation, she was awarded Oberlin’s prestigious William R. Abate award given to the finest the pianist of each graduating class. She proceeded to finish her studies with Master and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the University of Houston under the guidance of Horacio Gutierrez and Nancy Weems. During her school years, she received considerable additional guidance in masterclass from Dmitry Bashkirov, Anton Kuerti, Abbey Simon, Christopher Elton and Stanislav Iudenitch. She also distinguished herself in numerous competitions including prizes in Canada’s International Stepping Stone Competition, the Grace Welsh International Piano Competition and San Antonio International Competition and in concerts including one performance of Ravel’s G major piano concerto which left the revered pianist Abbey Simon exclaiming, “She played like my friends of the old generation past.”
In 2005, Dr. Li returned to her childhood home of Guangzhou to join the piano faculty of Xinghai Conservatory. Her students routinely go on to study in major conservatories across the world and take prizes in important competitions. She is also highly sought after as an adjudicator in major Chinese piano competitions and as a regular contributor to China’s premier piano magazine Piano Artistry.
Dr. Li maintains an active concert schedule of solo, chamber and concerto performances both in China and abroad.
Amy Sze
Dr. Amy Sze holds a Performer's Certificate, Master and Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music. Her principal teachers include Nelita True, Gabriel Kwok, and Chiu-fun Poon. She received her musical training at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts since the age of ten. She has attended the Aspen Summer Music Festival in Colorado, the TCU Cliburn Piano Institute in Texas, and the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg. She is a recipient of numerous scholarships, including the Avis D. Vaughn Scholarship, the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarship, and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund Scholarship. She has won many competitions.
Sze is a winner of the 2001 Eastman Concerto Competition, and national finalist of the 2003 MTNA Steinway-Collegiate Artist Piano Competition in the United States. She has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras, such as the Texas Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and Eastman Symphony Orchestra. She has also been invited frequently to record solo recitals and interviews for Radio and Television of Hong Kong (RTHK).
Besides solo performance, Sze has a keen interest in chamber music and accompaniment, and an enthusiasm for performing in diverse settings. She was a member of the Eastman Chamber Music Society, which believes in ‘music for all’ and introduces outreach projects and concerts to public schools and community centres. A keen performer of contemporary music, she was a featured artist in the 2006 Hong Kong New Generation concert and the 2007 International Society for Contemporary Music Festival. She and her piano quartet were invited to perform in the 2006 Le French May Festival. To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart, she and Benedict Cruft presented a concert series of complete Mozart sonatas on fortepiano and Baroque violin. She has collaborated with such distinguished artists as David Childs, Peter Cooper, Adam Frey, Yoshiyuki Ishikawa.
Sze was a teaching assistant in piano studies, accompaniment and chamber music at the Eastman School of Music. She is currently on the faculty of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Apart from giving lectures and masterclasses, she has been on the panel of judges for public examinations, awards and competitions. She has also been doing music advisory work for The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and St Paul’s Co-educational College, her alma mater.
Barbara Sze
Barbara Sze graduated with the Diploma in Performing Arts (Music) and Bachelor (Hons) Degree in Music from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, majored in harp performance with Mr. Christopher Sidenius, Principal Harpist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. She was awarded the Jacky Chan Charitable Foundation Scholarship during her study at HKAPA. Later on, she obtained the Advanced Certificate of Arts and Entertainment Management by the Binghamton University (SUNY), the Postgraduate Diploma in Education by the Hong Kong Institute of Education, and the Master of Arts degree in Music by the Hong Kong Baptist University.
Barbara performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Academy Orchestra, SAR Philharmonic Orchestra, Bangkok Opera, China Film Philharmonic, China National Symphony Orchestra, International Orchestra of Italy, KBS Symphony Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. In 2009 and 2010, she was invited to be the adjudicator for the harp contest of the 27th Macau Young Musicians Competition and the First Hong Kong Harp Competition.
Barbara devoted herself to teaching harp at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Hong Kong Institute of Education and the Hong Kong Music Office. In 2004, she established the Hong Kong Harp Academy to further promote harp playing and to groom promising harpists in Hong Kong.
Raymond Young
Hailed by the press as a pianist with ‘imagination and romantic poetry’, ‘exquisite tone, interpretative insight and deep communicative power’, Raymond Young was the First-prize Medallist in the two-piano section and the Silver Medallist in the Duet section at the International Piano Competition in Rome, Italy; and was honoured with a "Promising Young Artist Award" at the Braunschweig Classix Festival in Germany. His numerous captivating concerts in Europe and Asia over the years have won him great critical acclaim.
With considerable artistic and musical influence from his parents, Young started learning violin before switching to the piano at age eleven. In his youth, he also enjoyed drama, reciting poetry and choral singing. As the first pianist from Hong Kong to be awarded the highest scholarship by the Austrian Government, Young graduated with a Master of Arts degree in both performance and accompaniment, and a Diploma in piano pedagogy from the prestigious University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, a city where he lived for eleven years. Besides piano studies, he also majored in music theory and opera coaching. On account of his achievements and numerous recommendations, he was also granted Austrian citizenship. He has benefited from such masters as Paul Badura-Skoda, an authority of the Classical Viennese style; Joseph Banowetz, a grand student of Clara Schumann; Walter Fleischmann; David Lutz and Norman Shetler. He is a Fellow of the Trinity College, and an Associate of the Royal College of Music, in London.
As one of Hong Kong’s most versatile and renowned pianists, Young performs concerts extensively as a soloist and chamber music player, collaborates with singers and instrumentalists, appears in radio broadcasts, conducts master classes and lectures in Hong Kong and around the world. Being a sought-after adjudicator, he has been a judge at major competitions in the region, including The Steinway and Sons International Youth Piano Competition, Asian Youth Music Competition, Hong Kong Young Musician of the Year, Hong Kong Open Piano Competition, Hong Kong Schools Music Festival and the Macao Young Musicians Competition among others; and has been invited to serve as the Head Juror for The Hong Kong Students Open Music Competition. He is appointed as an examiner for the Yamaha Music Foundation, and is the founding member of the piano quartet ‘Piano Extravaganza’, consisting of four pianists. Apart from his busy schedule as a performer, he is also highly in demand as a piano pedagogue, and has been on the piano faculty of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The University of Hong Kong. His future engagements include solo recitals in China, Taiwan, Australia and North America.