musicians
Prudence Poon
Hong Kong-born young pianist Prudence Hiu-Ying Poon has studied piano since age 3 and made her first orchestral debut with the Hong Kong Metropolitan Youth Orchestra at age 10. Prudence has been keenly participating in competitions and festivals, and was awarded prizes in numerous competitions, including an Honorable Mention and the Audience Prize in the 70th Wideman International Piano Competition, Piano Division Runner Up in the 2022 Naftzger Young Artists Auditions, Melvin Stecher and Norman Horowitz Prize in the 8th New York International Piano Competition etc. She has also received prestigious awards and scholarships from organizations such as The Bernard Van Zuiden Music Fund and Irving & Lena Lo (ILLO) Scholarship Fund.
After studies with Nancy Loo and Yim Wan in Hong Kong, she earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance and Vocal Accompanying at Oberlin Conservatory under the tutelage of Robert Shannon and Philip Highfill. During her senior year there, she was awarded the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts, a distinction awarded only once every five years, to a graduating senior who has performed with uncommon distinction in music performance. As a Dean’s Scholarship and Tan Family Foundation Scholarship recipient, she graduated from New England Conservatory’s Masters of Music program, with HaeSun Paik.
As an avid chamber musician and educator, Prudence has worked as an Accompanist at Oberlin Conservatory, the New England Conservatory Preparatory School & School of Continuing Education. She has also served as an Assistant Instructor and Program Assistant of the Secondary Piano Program at Indiana University. Recently, she was invited to be one of the piano instructors at 2023 Edward Auer Piano Workshop, providing solo and chamber lessons to dedicated pianists.
Prudence is currently a Doctor of Music Candidate at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, majoring in Music Literature and Piano Performance with a minor in Music Education, under the guidance of Roberto Plano.
Cong Quartet
A string quartet in demand around Asia, Europe, and the United States, Cong Quartet serves the 2023 artistic residency of Musique à Flaine in France and was priorly the Artist in Residence & Ensemble-in-Residence at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) from 2019-2022. The quartet is currently part of the Nederlandse Strijkkwartet Academie (NSKA), a young artist group of Musethica in Europe, a musical partner of Domaine de La Garde in France and managed by Le Dimore del Quartetto in Italy.
The quartet has participated in many chamber music festivals & institutes, such as the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar and the Robert Mann String Quartet Institute in New York, The Heifetz International Music Institute, Encore Chamber Music in Cleveland, Music Academy Hörpu in Iceland, Music in PyeongChang, the Ozawa International Chamber Music Academy in Japan, as well as the European Chamber Music Academy(ECMA). They have also engaged in a teaching role at CUHK, the Madeline Island Chamber Music, Musethica, HIMA USA, the Indiana University Summer String Academy and Accademia Internazionale di Musica di Cagliari.
Drawing from the mentorship of Prof. Ivan Chan, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Danel, Ysaÿe and Pacifica Quartets, Cong Quartet’s rapid rise was fueled by top prize wins at the 2022 Virtuoso & Belcanto’s Chamber Music Competition in Italy, 2019 Salzburg Mozart International Chamber Competition in Tokyo, 2021 Kreutzer International Competition in Belgium and as a finalist of several international chamber music competitions. They have performed with world-renowned artists such as the members of the Borromeo Quartet, Yovan Markovitch, Enrico Pace, Yuri Bashmet, Joshua Bell among many others. In this past year, they also focused on collaborations with prominent musicians of their generation such as violinist Angela Chan, Jinjoo Cho, Shannon Lee, violist Adrien La Marca, cellist Brannon Cho & Sterling Elliott.
Yvonne Chan Yui Woon
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Yvonne Chan Yui Woon is currently serving as the Co-Principal Double Bass of the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong. In addition, she is also a freelance player of both the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta.
Yvonne Chan began her study of the double bass at the age of eleven, and went on to receive her Bachelor of Music (Hons) Degree with First Class Honours from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) in 2020, where she studied under the tutelage of Feng Rong. During her years at the academy, she has been recognized for her academic achievements with the Aedas Scholarship, the Jacky Cheung Scholarship, and the HKAPA Best Academic Achievement Prize during her years at the academy.