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Soloists

Kitty Cheung, violin

Past leader of the University of London Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong-born violinist Kitty Cheung gave her solo recital debut at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre at the age of 15. She has performed in over 25 countries throughout Asia, South Africa, Europe, North and South America, and has appeared as a soloist with Hong Kong City Chamber Orchestra, Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Children's Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Medical Association Orchestra and Greece Symphony Orchestra in Rochester NY. She has also performed in many broadcasts worldwide such as BBC radio 3, and was featured in the RTHK Radio 4 programme "Young Music Makers".

Kitty has performed in the London Symphony Orchestra under the LSO String Experience Scheme, New York String Orchestra in Carnegie Hall and Hong Kong Sinfonietta in La Folle Journée Festival, Tokyo and Shanghai Spring International Music Festival, China. Also an active chamber musician, she enjoys giving recitals and leading educational workshops with her chamber ensembles in various concert venues such as Chamber Tots in Wigmore Hall, as well as community projects in many schools, hospitals and elderly homes.

Kitty began her violin studies at the Hong Kong Yip's Children's Choral and Performing Arts Centre with Qui Xing-Ye, Li Hao-Yee, Ho Hong-Ying, and Professor Lin Yao-Ji from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She later gained her Bachelors degree with high distinction under the tutelage of Professor Charles Castleman at the Eastman School of Music, where she was also awarded the John Celentano Award for Excellence in Chamber Music and Performer's Certificate. She is now studying with Professor David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She completed her Masters degree with distinction, and is currently continuing with her Master in Music Performance (Guildhall Artist) degree with the generous support of the Edwin Evans Award. She is a recipient of many scholarships including the Hong Kong Bernard Van Zuiden Music Fund awarded by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and a winner in many competitions.

Tom Poster, piano

Tom Poster's diverse and rapidly developing career combines the complementary roles of concerto soloist, solo recitalist and chamber musician across an extensive repertoire in a range of major international venues. He has been described as "an unparalleled sound-magician" (General-Anzeiger), "a pianist of distinction" (The Times), and as possessing "great authority and astounding virtuosity" (Est Républicain). Since his London concerto debut at the age of 13, Tom has appeared in a wide-ranging concerto repertoire of over 25 major works, with orchestras and conductors including the BBC Philharmonic/Yan Pascal Tortelier, BBC Scottish Symphony/James Loughran, China National Symphony/En Shao, Southbank Sinfonia/Vladimir Ashkenazy, St Petersburg State Capella Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Swan and the European Union Chamber Orchestra. He has given solo recitals at the Barbican Hall and St John's Smith Square; in Bonn, Hamburg, Lugano, Paris and the Channel Islands; and at festivals in Brighton, Chester, Edinburgh, King's Lynn, the Two Moors, Windsor and Spoleto (the last by personal invitation of the late Gian Carlo Menotti).

In 2007, Tom won First Prize in the Scottish International Piano Competition, where he also received the prize for the best performance of the specially commissioned work by Judith Weir. He was a major prizewinner at the Dudley and Epinal International Piano Competitions in 2003, and winner of the keyboard sections of the Royal Over-Seas League and BBC Young Musician of the Year Competitions in 2000. He has broadcast extensively on BBC Radio 3, BBC 2, Classic FM and the Sky Performance Channel, and has recorded works by Thomas Adès for EMI. As pianist of the Aronowitz Ensemble, he is a member of the BBC's New Generation Artists scheme, appearing at the Wigmore and Bridgewater Halls, the Aldeburgh, Cheltenham and City of London Festivals and the BBC Proms. He has also collaborated with Alison Balsom, Natalie Clein, Nicholas Daniel, James Gilchrist, Guy Johnston, Tasmin Little, Willard White and the Endellion, Bochmann, Brodsky and Medici Quartets.

Tom is well-known for his readiness to face a challenge: he has on several occasions been asked to step in at the last moment for indisposed artists, recently rushing across London to give a rapturously received performance of the Grieg Concerto at only three hours' notice. A dedicated communicator, he has given masterclasses at a number of festivals, was Artistic Director of Sophie's Silver Lining Fund Music Festival in Chacombe, has appeared as Reciter in Walton's Façade at Musicfest Aberystwyth, and is also a successful composer. In 2005 he was a guest at the reception at Buckingham Palace given by the Queen in celebration of the British music industry, and in 2007 he gave a performance to the Emperor and Empress of Japan.

Born in 1981, Tom studied with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he held a Postgraduate Fellowship, and at King's College, Cambridge, where he gained a Double First in music.

Supported by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Sponsored by Durex Sponsored by Scholl Footwear
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Autumn 2008 Concert

Sun 7th December, 8.00pm
St. Stephen's Church, Gloucester Road

Vaughan Williams
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Britten
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
Prokofiev
Symphony No. 5

John Forster, conductor



Past Soloists