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The Hong Kong Chinese pianist, Chiyan Wong, began his musical studies aged 6 with Grace Man in his native hometown of Hong Kong and in his early teens, he moved to England to further his studies at the Chethams School of Music and Royal Northern College of Music under Norma Fisher. His interest in composition has led him to studies with Thomas Adès at the Prussia Cove International Musicians’ Seminar, as well as private studies in counterpoint with Naji Hakim in Paris. These encounters have left a strong mark on his musical work. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with Christopher Elton. He has received prizes at the International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in Ukraine and Premio Zanfi in Parma, as well as from the Hattori Foundation in London. He was the recipient of an award from the Bernard van Zuiden Music Fund of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and won 1st Prize at the Jaques Samuel Pianos Intercollegiate Piano Competition. In 2017 he was awarded a prestigious prize as one of the most promising young artists to appear at the International Mozarteum Summer Academy, consequently performing in a recital at the Salzburg Festival that was broadcast by ORF radio.
Chiyan Wong has been astonishing audiences with the sincerity and sheer authority of his playing, and has captivated listeners in repertoire ranging from the early Baroque to the 21st century, nuanced in particular, by his interest in the music of Franz Liszt and Ferruccio Busoni. In 2016, he made debuts with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra where he was immediately re-invited for the following season. Other recent debuts include Hong Kong Arts Festival, Wigmore Hall in London, International Music Festival in Dinard, France and the 19th Singapore International Piano Festival. In 2017 he returned to the Singapore International Piano Festival. He was invited to return to Hong Kong for a F. Liszt live broadcast recital sponsored by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). He recently returned to the Singapore International Piano Festival (2017) and performed at Stoller Hall in the International Piano Summer School, Manchester.
In summer 2019 Chiyan Wong g made his recital debut at the Proms at St Jude’s in London and was featured in a duo recital with Chinese violist Diyang Mei at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He has made successful debuts with Okko Kamu and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, with a performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2; with Edward Gardner at the Royal Academy of Music; and with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, where he was immediately re-invited for the following season. He has also been invited to return to Singapore Symphony Orchestra for a performance of W.A. Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488, in 2021. In 2021, he will be giving a recital at the Hong Kong City Hall.
Chiyan Wong himself completed and edited the transcriptions presented in his critically acclaimed debut album, "Liszt Transfigured: Operatic Fantasies for Piano" (Linn Records), which features Liszt’s operatic transcriptions, completed and edited by Wong. The album was awarded the 40th Franz Liszt International Grand Prix du Disque by the Franz Liszt Society in Budapest, Hungary, in recognition of its artistic merits. His second album, scheduled for release in February 2021, features an array of works rooted in the music of J.S. Bach, including Chiyan’s personal take on the Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) where he combines F. Busoni's edition with J.S. Bach’s original. |
