Tak Chiu Wong
Praised as an “outstanding performer” by Arts News and RTHK Radio 4 and hailed byGerard Schwarz as a “fantastic, excellent player,” Hong Kong-based saxophonist Tak Chiu Wong is an international soloist, chamber musician, educator, and arranger whose artistry bridges the classical canon and today’s most compelling voices.
Tak Chiu Wong has performed across Asia, Europe, and the United States as a soloist, recitalist, and collaborator with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong Wind Kamerata, Asian Contemporary Ensemble, Amigo Saxophone Quartet, and La Sax. His musical partnerships have included conductors Alain Crépin, Vanich Potavanich, and Satoshi Yagisawa; pianists Rachel Cheung and Cherry Tsang; saxophonist Philippe Geiss; and magician Harry Wong (aka Harry Gor Gor).
A champion of living composers, Wong has commissioned and premiered more than 70 works dedicated to him, collaborating with Chen Yi, Zechariah Goh, Narong Prangcharoen, Diana Soh, Jean Philippe Vanbeselaere, and Xiaogang Ye. In 2016 he received the renowned Barlow Award for a commission with the Amigo Saxophone Quartet and Diana Soh—the first and only saxophone ensemble so honored since the award’s inception in 1983. Notable premieres and performances include Pierre Boulez’s Dialogue de l’ombre Double, Qigang Chen’s Feu d’Ombres, Chen Yi’s Chinese Folk Dance Suite, Narong Prangcharoen’s Perpetual Motions, Jean-Philippe Vanbeselaere’s Tribute to Mister L., and Satoshi Yagisawa’s Saxophone Concerto.
Equally devoted to pedagogy, Wong is Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the School of Music, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. He has previously served on the faculties of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, and the University of Hong Kong. As artistic director and faculty member of the Asia Pacific Saxophone Academy, he fosters cross-regional exchange, and his masterclasses and juries have taken him throughout China, Italy, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
An avid arranger, Wong has created hundreds of works for forces ranging from solo instruments to wind band and orchestra, embracing early music, classical, jazz, film, and popular repertoire. His arrangements have been heard across Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States and are published by Sheet Music Press and Theodore Presser Company.
Educated in Hong Kong, France, and the United States, Wong is a Pi Kappa Lambda honoree and a laureate of the Hong Kong Academy Concerto Competition (2006), Concours de Saxophone Parisien (2008), Jacoby Concerto Competition (2013), and WVU Young Artist Competition (2015).
