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The Hong Kong Chinese, Patrick Chiu, has participted during his period of residence in Vienna in various local professional performances and received tuition from professors at the Vienna Conservatory. In 2003, he earned a scholarship to study at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he received his Master’s degree in choral conducting. He then earned a master's degree in stage directing in Florida State University, where he is currently continuing as a doctoral candidate. During his stay in Europe and the USA, he has worked with and studied under world-renowned maestros including Helmuth Rilling, James Levine and Harry Christophers.
Patrick Chiu was the Artistic Director of Hong Kong’s first professional a cappella theatre company, the Yat Po Singers, and the award-winning Hong Kong Melody Makers. He also served as the founding Festival Director of Hong Kong SingFest (2014/2015), music director of the newly-established Hong Kong Oratorio Society Cantata Singers and a member of the renowned a cappella group, the Gay Singers. He taught the Master’s programme in his alma mater, the music department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was also a council member of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and an examiner of the Arts Development Council.
Being appointed as the Youth Committee member of the International Federation of Choral Music (IFCM), Patrick Chiu frequently attends world choral conferences as a representative of the Asian region. In 2008, he has been appointed as an organizing committee member of the World Youth Choir.
Patrick Chiu is dedicated to the promotion of choral music. Highlights include a cappella theatre Rock Hard (2008, as concept creator and choral director, and its 2010 and 2012 reruns) commissioned by the New Vision Arts Festival; a cappella theatre The Lark (2009, as music director and composer) produced by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre; Japan a cappella Movement in Tokyo (2009, as adjudicator); a cappella theatre The Adventure of Tom Sawyer (2010, as music director and composer) produced by Shu Ning Presentation Unit; Hong Kong International a cappella Festival (2010-2013, as Festival Artistic Director); Taipei Bach Festival (2010 and 2012, as conductor); Helmuth Rilling’s Discovery Series (2010-2012, as conductor) organized by the Oregon Bach Festival; World Contemporary a cappella Competition (2012, as adjudicator); West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre a cappella Zhong Yue Feng (2013, as Artistic Director). In the local pop scene, he has worked with Eason Chan, Hins Cheung, Khalil Fong, Chet Lam, Mag Lam, Kay Tse, Ivana Wong and Jonathan Wong.
In 2009, Patrick Chiu led the Hong Kong Melody Makers Vocal Band to win 3 awards in the 3rd Asian Youth a cappella Competition in South Korea: Champion, Best Vocal and Best Arrangement. In 2010, he and the Hong Kong Melody Makers Chorus won two Gold Awards in the World Choir Games. As Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups a cappella Centre, Patrick Chiu and the Federation received the Gold Award for Arts Education of the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2010. He was a recipient of the Award for Young Artist in the Hong Kong Arts Development Award 2012. In 2012, he was a scholarship recipient of Helmuth Rilling’s Herbert von Karajan Music Prize to attend and perform in the Oregon Bach Festival.
Interdisciplinary artist Patrick Chiu works as a stage director, performance curator, conductor, and composer. In recent years, his choral-physical theatres have been injecting innovation and vibrancy into the arts scene. Recent fully staged productions include Monteverdi Madrigal of War and Love, English madrigals The Triumphs of Oriana, J.S. Bach's Ich habe genug (BWV 82), Coffee Cantata (BWV 211), Hercules at the Crossroads (BWV 213), and Markus-Passion (BWV 247). Upcoming projects in 2021 include Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, J.S. Bach's Wedding Cantata (BWV 202), and Johannes-Passion (BWV 245).
With his pen name “herrchiu”, Patrick Chiu has composed a number of award-winning choral works in various styles. These works have been presented in Austria, France, Portugal, Spain, Russia, UK, USA and many other countries in Asia. His publisher is Apple Tree Music.
In 2020, Patrick Chiu proudly joined the Vocal Arts Faculty of the University of North Florida. With Dr. Cara Tasher as Music Director and Conductor, he has directed several staged choral productions, including Monteverdi Vespers, Handel Messiah in Motion, and a full-length video of concert-documentary Messiah on the Move, which portrayed our musical "new normal" in pandemic times. |
