Kahchun Wong

Eine deutsche Übersetzung dieser Biografie folgt.

Hailed by Musical America for the depth and sincerity of his musicality, the Singaporean Conductor Kahchun Wong first came to international attention as the winner of the Mahler Competition in May 2016, following in the footsteps of Gustavo Dudamel, who immediately appointed him as a Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 2016/2017 season. After an astounding last-minute debut with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra in October 2016, he was unanimously elected as its next Chief Conductor from the 2018/2019 season.

Wong is appreciated by orchestras and audiences across the globe for his warm and collaborative music-making. Highlights in 2017 and 2018 include European debuts with the Czech Philharmonic, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestre Capitole du Toulouse, Staatskapelle Weimar, Staatsphilharmonie Rhineland-Pfalz, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Teatro lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste and Orquestra de València, as well as Asian debuts with the Tokyo Philharmonic, Kanagawa Philharmonic, National Symphony of Taiwan, Shanghai Philharmonic, Shenzhen Symphony and Kunming Symphony. He will also return to the Bamberg Symphony, China Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony, Singapore Symphony and George Enescu Philharmonic.

Together with the Nuremberg Symphony, he will embark on an extensive tour of China in December 2017 and lead Klassik Open Air, the largest European outdoor festival of classical music in summer 2018. 

Wong's fascination with the power of music education led him to co-found Project Infinitude: a grassroots initiative embracing children from diverse backgrounds through musical theatre. As he feels strongly about giving back to the community that raised him, the pilot programme started in Singapore at the Enabling Village, a space where people with different abilities can feel accepted for whom they are. He and his co-founder Marina Mahler, granddaughter of the composer Gustav Mahler, look to expand the project in a sustainable and thoughtful way in the future.

Throughout his musical training, Wong is grateful to be mentored by leading figures in the industry. A protégé of Kurt Masur, Wong had the privilege of sharing the podium together with him in his last years on multiple occasions.

He was additionally twice selected by Bernard Haitink for his masterclasses at the Lucerne Easter Festival in 2012 and 2014. Having assisted Gustavo Dudamel and Esa-Pekka Salonen with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Valery Gergiev and Yannick Nezet-Seguin with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, he will travel with Ivan Fischer with the Budapest Festival Orchestra on its North American tour in January 2018. 

Wong began musical studies on the cornet at the age of 7. After serving as a military musician in the Singapore Armed Forces for two years, he studied composition at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore and conducting at the Hanns-Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin. He spent two summers with Robert Spano at the Aspen Music Festival as a conducting fellow and is a recipient of the Bruno Walter Conducting Scholarship at the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music, where he worked with Gustav Meier.