Wong Chun Wai
Wong Chun-wai is a composer deeply committed to musical craftsmanship, creating thoughtful and refined works across a broad spectrum of styles. His versatile oeuvre encompasses concert music, musicals, and film scores, often blending diverse musical languages to evoke vivid atmospheres and offer audiences an experience akin to multimedia art. Rooted in the (Late) Romantic tradition, he explores how contemporary ideas can extend that lineage in a modern context.
Wong’s music have been performed in the United States, Mexico, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong. His music have been performed or recorded by professional performers and ensembles including the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (under Jaap van Zweden, Bright Sheng, Sebastian Perłowski, Gerard Salonga, Kuokman Lio, and Vivian Ip), Asian Youth Orchestra (under James Judd), the Academy Symphony Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic), Orchestre d'Harmonie de Saint Omer (France), performers from the New York Philharmonic (United Stated), performers from the Veridian Symphony Orchestra (United States), Internationale Ensemble Modern Akademie (IEMA) (Germany), Ensamble Cepromusic (Mexico), Hermes Ensemble (Belgium), The North/South Consonance Ensemble (United States), Boston New Music Initiative (United States), The 24 (United Kingdom) and soloists including Dong-Suk Kang, Jan-Erik Gustafsson and Laurens de Boer.
He won The Bassoon Chamber Music Composition Competition (BCMCC) with his piece A Breath of Life (United States), the First Prize and Audience Prize in the Coups de Vents 5th International Composition Competition for Wind Orchestra (France) with his piece Sacrifice–The Death of Samson, the David Gwilt Composition Prize and Audience Prize (Hong Kong) with The White Wall II, the Veridian Symphony Orchestra Second Annual Call for Scores Competition (United States) with his piece A Call in the Wilds, another David Gwilt Composition Prize (Hong Kong) with Whirling through the Dreams, the First Prize in the New Generation Concert (Hong Kong) with Nhemamusasa; he was also listed as a finalist in the 2021 NYC Contemporary Music Symposium at Columbia University (United States), Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra 2014 International Composition Competition (United States) for Lament from the Forest II, the International composition competition "Città di Udine" for Autumn Leaves (Italy) and the Durham Cathedral Anthem Composition Competition (United Kingdom) for I am the Good Shepherd, among others.
His music has also been featured in the International Rostrum of Composers (68th, Italy; 64th, Italy and 59th, Sweden), ISCM World Music Days 2012 (Belgium), the XXXVI International Forum of New Music “Manuel Enríquez” (Mexico), the 33rd ACL (Asian Composers League) Festival (Philippines) and the Asian Youth Orchestra World Tour.
His scores for films and advertisements are featured in international festivals including the Sound and Image Challenge Festival and Pink City International Short Film Festival, as well as on local platforms including TVB, Cable TV and Viu TV. In particular, the short film The Boy Who Wears High Heels have attracted over 811,000 views across online platforms.
Wong is also an active arranger. He has arranged a number of vocal, choral and orchestral music for concerts, social service programs and other occasions; some of them performed by renowned artists and singers such as Nick Vujicic, Rebecca Pan Di-hua and Harry Wong. His arrangement of O for a thousand tongues to sing earned him the best arrangement award for choir in the Charles Wesley’s 300th anniversary celebration contest in 2007.
His works have been recorded and published by Ablaze Records (United States), Europa Musica Publishing (France), Imagine Music (United States), Murphy Music Press (United States) and the Hong Kong Composers’ Guild.
Apart from composing and arranging, Wong teaches piano performance and other music subjects both privately and at tertiary and secondary institutions. He is also the author of the orchestration study blog Orchestration Masters.
Wong Chun-wai is a composer deeply committed to musical craftsmanship, creating thoughtful and refined works across a broad spectrum of styles. His versatile oeuvre encompasses concert music, musicals, and film scores, often blending diverse musical languages to evoke vivid atmospheres and offer audiences an experience akin to multimedia art. Rooted in the (Late) Romantic tradition, he explores how contemporary ideas can extend that lineage in a modern context.
Wong’s music have been performed in the United States, Mexico, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong. His music have been performed or recorded by professional performers and ensembles including the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (under Jaap van Zweden, Bright Sheng, Sebastian Perłowski, Gerard Salonga, Kuokman Lio, and Vivian Ip), Asian Youth Orchestra (under James Judd), the Academy Symphony Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic), Orchestre d'Harmonie de Saint Omer (France), performers from the New York Philharmonic (United Stated), performers from the Veridian Symphony Orchestra (United States), Internationale Ensemble Modern Akademie (IEMA) (Germany), Ensamble Cepromusic (Mexico), Hermes Ensemble (Belgium), The North/South Consonance Ensemble (United States), Boston New Music Initiative (United States), The 24 (United Kingdom) and soloists including Dong-Suk Kang, Jan-Erik Gustafsson and Laurens de Boer.
He won The Bassoon Chamber Music Composition Competition (BCMCC) with his piece A Breath of Life (United States), the First Prize and Audience Prize in the Coups de Vents 5th International Composition Competition for Wind Orchestra (France) with his piece Sacrifice–The Death of Samson, the David Gwilt Composition Prize and Audience Prize (Hong Kong) with The White Wall II, the Veridian Symphony Orchestra Second Annual Call for Scores Competition (United States) with his piece A Call in the Wilds, another David Gwilt Composition Prize (Hong Kong) with Whirling through the Dreams, the First Prize in the New Generation Concert (Hong Kong) with Nhemamusasa; he was also listed as a finalist in the 2021 NYC Contemporary Music Symposium at Columbia University (United States), Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra 2014 International Composition Competition (United States) for Lament from the Forest II, the International composition competition "Città di Udine" for Autumn Leaves (Italy) and the Durham Cathedral Anthem Composition Competition (United Kingdom) for I am the Good Shepherd, among others.
His music has also been featured in the International Rostrum of Composers (68th, Italy; 64th, Italy and 59th, Sweden), ISCM World Music Days 2012 (Belgium), the XXXVI International Forum of New Music “Manuel Enríquez” (Mexico), the 33rd ACL (Asian Composers League) Festival (Philippines) and the Asian Youth Orchestra World Tour.
His scores for films and advertisements are featured in international festivals including the Sound and Image Challenge Festival and Pink City International Short Film Festival, as well as on local platforms including TVB, Cable TV and Viu TV. In particular, the short film The Boy Who Wears High Heels have attracted over 811,000 views across online platforms.
Wong is also an active arranger. He has arranged a number of vocal, choral and orchestral music for concerts, social service programs and other occasions; some of them performed by renowned artists and singers such as Nick Vujicic, Rebecca Pan Di-hua and Harry Wong. His arrangement of O for a thousand tongues to sing earned him the best arrangement award for choir in the Charles Wesley’s 300th anniversary celebration contest in 2007.
His works have been recorded and published by Ablaze Records (United States), Europa Musica Publishing (France), Imagine Music (United States), Murphy Music Press (United States) and the Hong Kong Composers’ Guild.
Apart from composing and arranging, Wong teaches piano performance and other music subjects both privately and at tertiary and secondary institutions. He is also the author of the orchestration study blog Orchestration Masters.
