Music

Timothy Kwok
Praised for his ‘intense personal commitment to the music, the ability to vary his sound, and poetic imagination’ by the eminent American pianist James Tocco, Timothy Kwok has earned critical acclaims from different musicians including the leading suona maestro Guo Yazhi who praised Kwok as ‘one of the best pianists in the younger generation both in learning and integrity’. Kwok has performed in many places including New York City, Cincinnati, Prague, Taipei, Macao, Shenzhen, and his native Hong Kong, as well as at festivals such as International Keyboard Institute and Festival, Prague International Piano Institute, and Cincinnati’s Bearcat Piano Festival. As an active collaborative pianist, he has performed with violin virtuoso Huang Bin, erhu master Cheng Xiu-rong, and suona maestro Guo Yazhi. He was also invited to partner with Guo Yazhi in his album City Rhapsody, in which they made the world premiere recording of the suona and piano version of Birds Pay Tribute to the Phoenix. The album was published in 2010. His recent recording highlight is the recording of the complete Fauré-Naoumoff’sRequiem for solo piano on Radio Television Hong Kong Radio 4. Kwok was appointed as the only Tangeman Graduate Teaching Assistant of Early Music at the University of Cincinnati, USA, teaching Baroque interpretation, basso continuo and harpsichord performance. Since graduation, Kwok joined the Music Department of The Chinese University of Hong Kong as a part-time piano and harpsichord faculty member. He is currently a full-time lecturer at the music programme under Macao Polytechnic Institute’s School of Art, teaching piano performance, chamber music and other performance-related classes.Born and raised in Hong Kong, Kwok began studying the piano at the age of six. His major mentors have included Mary Wu, Edmund Battersby, Eugene Pridonoff, Elisabeth Pridonoff, and Vivian Montgomery. He has also worked with masters like Gabriel Kwok, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, James Tocco, Emile Naoumoff, and Nelly Akopian-Tamarina, among others. Kwok graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Bacholer of Arts (Honours) degree in Music, and was named a Fellow of Trinity College London. With the C. F. Hu Memorial Scholarship and Jacobs School of Music Graduate Scholarship, Kwok furthered his postgraduate studies at Indiana University, USA, and graduated with Master of Music degree. Kwok then studied at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati with the full assistantship and stipend and earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance in 28 months, setting a new record in the history of the school.