BARBARA SZE

INSTRUTOR OF HKAPA

Barbara Sze 施盈琳
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 OrchestraHong Kong SinfoniettaHong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Academy Orchestra, SAR Philharmonic Orchestra, Macau Orchestra, Bangkok Opera, China Film PhilharmonicChina National Symphony OrchestraInternational Orchestra of ItalyKBS Symphony Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. From 2009 to 2015, she was invited to be the adjudicator for the harp contest of the Macau Young Musicians Competition and the Hong Kong Harp Competition.

Barbara devoted herself to teaching harp at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong Baptist UniversityThe Education University of Hong Kong 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.

Amy Tam Wai-Li  譚懷理
Amy Tam is well-known to the Hong Kong audience as a harpist being currently active in regular performances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestrathe Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra as well as a pedagogue instructing at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Having graduated at the China Central Conservatory of Music, Amy also received the Professional Diploma with distinction from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and her Master of Music (Performance) from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under the full support of The Molly McAulay Scholarship.

In her early years, Amy was invited to join the China Youth Symphony Orchestra and perform in a series of public performances presented by China Central Television & Radio. She accompanied the China Youth Symphony Orchestra to Taiwan as the Principal Harpist and the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra as the China Delegation to the Berlin Music Festival followed by a performing tour to Germany and Czechoslovakia.

Besides being a soloist, Amy is also an avid chamber musician and worked on Ensemble and Chamber Music intensively. Over the last few years, she has also got numerous opportunities to have exchange with and guidance from Louise Johnson, the Principal Harp of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the world-renowned harp soloist Alice Giles from the Australia National University.

PEGGY HOUNG

MASTER DEGREE OF MUSIC, MAJOR IN HARP, ARTIST DIPLOMA

Peggy Houng is an international prize-winning harpist currently residing in Hong Kong. She completed her Graduate Performance Diploma in Harp Performance in 2017 at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland under the tutelage of Dr. Ruth K. Inglefield. In 2016, she completed her Master of Music at Indiana University Bloomington’s Jacobs School of Music where she studied with Distinguished Professor of Harp, Susann McDonald, as a recipient of the Jacobs Fellow Award. At the same time, she completed the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, McGill University, and Oxford University’s Global Leaders Program, earning a Certificate in Teaching Artistry, Orchestral Leadership, and Social Entrepreneurship and winning the Hildegard Behrens Global Humanitarian Entrepreneur Award. Peggy also holds a Bachelor of Music in Harp Performance from the Peabody Institute and a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science from the Johns Hopkins University.
 
As an accomplished soloist, Peggy was featured in two performances at the most recent World Harp Congress in Hong Kong in 2017. She won 4th prize in the advanced division the 24th International Harp Competition in Soka, Japan, 2nd prize in the 2016 ENKOR International Music Competition Strings Division, and the Catherine McDonald Memorial Award at the National Society of Arts and Letters Bloomington Chapter in 2015. As an orchestral musician, she toured with the Asian Youth Orchestra in 2012, playing concerts in Hong Kong, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Taipei, Gunma, Sendai, and Tokyo. Other notable ensembles she has performed with include the Macau OrchestraCantabile, Occasional Symphony, Great Noise Ensemble, and Friday Morning Music Club. 
 
Peggy has several interests revolving around music and the harp, and their potential applications to science and medicine. She served as a musician-in-residence at Broadmead Retirement Community as part of a collaborative program between the Peabody Institute and local retirement homes, offering musical services to residents in a clinical setting. She is currently completing a bachelor’s equivalency degree in music therapy and strives to obtain her board certification to become a music therapist soon.

JUDY, HO CHING MAN

 ARTIST FELLOW AND MASTER DEGREE IN HARP

OF GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Judy, Ho Ching Man, Harp

Born in Hong Kong, Judy is one of the most sought-after harpists of her generation. She studied for her master’s degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Under the tutelage of Imogen Barford, she graduated with distinction, and was later awarded an Artist Fellowship. Her early harp training began with Ann Huang at the Music Office and later gained her Bachelor in Arts (Music with honors) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong with Amy Tam. She also held a visiting position at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts under the tutelage of Dan Yu. 

Judy currently enjoys a diverse career and performed across Europe and Asia as soloist, chamber, orchestral player and cross-arts collaborator. She has worked with orchestras such as the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Macao Orchestra and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. She has recently completed the 4-year Wagner Ring Cycle Project with the HKPhil, which their live performance was recorded and released on CD by Naxos Label. Other renowned festivals and Orchestral Academy Judy has played include the Salzburg Festival (Austria), Schleswig Holstein Festival (Germany), Asian Youth Orchestra, Oslo Chamber Music Festival (Norway), Young Euro Classica (Berlin), City of London Festival, Singapore Harp Festival, Taiwan International Harp Festival and Asia Harp Festival in Korea etc.

In Hong Kong, Judy has held solo recitals at the St John’s Cathedral, LeeHysan Concert Hall, Chinese Methodist Church and All Saints Church. She has performed the Mozart K.299 Flute and Harp concerto with the Chung Chi Orchestra; Ravel Introduction and Allegro in London and Debussy’s Danses sacree et Danse profane at the Sheung Wan Civic Centre. For chamber music, she is regularly invited to perform at the Hong Kong Museum of Arts as part of the Sound of Arts Series and Musica del cuore Concert Series. 

In 2015, she formed Duo Reine with Soprano Jessica Ng. They explored and performed music ranged from French Baroque to contemporary. In 2017 they were invited to perform the works of award-winning young composers Pieter Bezuidenhout and Franco Prinsloo at the Aardklop festival, South Africa and the 13th World Harp Congress in Hong Kong. Her Flute, Harp and Viola Trio (Trois Voix) performed at the Wigmore Hall and led workshops for young children there. They have given a concert at the Kunst Gallery in Norway and recently a recital in Hong Kong.

 Jointed with her sister Jennifer, she formed the Symmetry Harp Duo in 2013. They have given performances in many countries. Their appearances with new duo arrangements have won high acclaims at the Taiwan International Harp Festival in 2015 and Korea’s First Asia Harp Festival in 2016. They have continued to be invited to the 2nd Taiwan International Harp Festival in 2019. With the generous support of Tanza Trust, Symmetry Duo has commissioned and premier renowned composer Paul Patterson’s new duo piece at the World Harp Congress 2017 in Hong Kong. In the same year, they gave a double harp concerto performance with the Chung Chi Wind Orchestra at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 2019, the duo launched the “Harp Triptych”, a series of harp and chamber music concerts in Tai Kwun; in the same year they were invited to perform at the “The Journey of Greater Bay” concert in Guangzhou, which was their first appearance in mainland China. 

​Apart from performing, Judy is also passionate in teaching. She has taught in the Macau Conservatory (Junior) and now in Hong Kong Music Office and private music institutions. Her students are prize-winners of local and international harp competitions. Recently she was awarded as An Outstanding Teacher by the China Artist Association HKSAR Secretariat and the Hong Kong Arts and Cultural Foundation.

Petite Chan

Harp instructor in the junior program of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Tsz-shun Petite CHAN completed her Bachelor of Music (Honours) Degree at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with first class honours. She has developed her interest in harp since young and is currently studying under the tutelage of Dan Yu.

 

She obtained ATCL in harp and also piano performance in 2014. She is an active harpist in Hong Kong. She was awarded First Prize  in the 2018 Concours Francais De La Harpe in France and is also the winner of the Camac Prize Taiwan in 2019. Petite is also invited to play the Ginastera Harp Concerto with the Academy Orchestra in 2021.

Besides, she has rich orchestral experiences. She has been working with several local orchestras. She is also selected as the harpist in the Asian Youth Orchestra 2019 and has toured with the orchestra to Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Tianjing, Hong Kong, Taipei, Chiayi City, Seoul, Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Tokyo.

 

Apart from performance, Petite is a passionate music educator and she is currently a harp instructor in the junior program of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts