Orchestras
Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, established in 1977, is renowned as a leader in the distinction of being a prominent representative of traditional Chinese music and serves as a cultural ambassador for Hong Kong. The orchestra is frequently invited to perform at prestigious international music concerts and art festivals, with a presence spanning across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and even the Arctic Circle, making it one of the world’s leading large-scale Chinese orchestras today.
Conductor: Rupert Woo Pak Tuen
Assistant Conductor of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and Resident Conductor of the Hong Kong Young Chinese Orchestra. Graduated in 2012, Rupert Woo was the first Master in Conducting of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). In the Second International Conducting Competition for Chinese Music, Rupert won Second Prize as well as the Outstanding Young Conductor in Hong Kong Award and the Audience Award for the Most Popular Conductor. He guest-conducted the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (HKCO), the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Macao Chinese Orchestra, the Henan National Music Orchestra, the Academy Chinese Orchestra and the Academy Symphony Orchestra of HKAPA, Fanyin Chamber Orchestra of the Tianjin Conservatory of Music, Windpipe Chinese Music Ensemble etc.
Rupert holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Computer Science from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2005), a Bachelor of Music (Hons) in banhu performance from HKAPA (2008), and a Master of Music in banhu and gaohu performance from HKAPA (2010).
In 2018, Rupert became the Assistant Conductor (Education and Outreach) of HKCO through open recruitment, responsible for the conducting of the Hong Kong Young Chinese Orchestra, which is under the jurisdiction of the HKCO. Rupert was the conductor in ‘Our Cantopop’ concert (2023) and ‘Trail of the Blue Dragon’ Community Concert (2022) held by HKCO.
Guanzi Soloist: Ma Wai Him - Prinicipal Souna of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
Principal Suona and also guan player of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Ma joined the HKCO in 2014 and has served as Principal Suona since 2016. Ma learned Chinese wind instruments from his father, Ma Wing-shing, at a young age. He completed his Master’s degree programme with double major in suona and guan at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. His teachers included Guo Yazhi, Law Hang Leung, Liu Hai, Xia Boyan and Lo Wai Leung. He also attended advanced courses in suona under Liu Ying and guan under Hu Zhihou. He was invited to teach at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts after his graduation. He has won the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards – Award for Young Artist (music), Silver Award-Folk Instruments section at the 16th Osaka International Music Competition, and was invited to be a Visiting Artist at the School of Music, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.