Experience StellaTsangMusic

Story of An Artist

Stella TSANG - 

Composer/Conductor/ Piano and Theory teacher/ Choir Organist and music consultant in St. Teresa Church 

(HONG KONG)

Stella Tsang began her first piano lesson at the age of six. She completed her BMus (Hons.) Degree and Professional Diploma in the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, studying composition and electronic music with Law Wing Fai and Clarence Mak.

On graduation from the HKAPA, Stella was awarded the Composers And Authors society of Hong Kong Ltd (CASH) Overseas Composition Scholarship to pursue her MMus studies in the Royal College of Music, London, studying composition with Professor Timothy Salter. Her composition ‘Plea’ for Bass Clarinet won the RCM Winds Composition Competition in 2005 and was published in RCM. She was an active chorister and accompaniment with Ionian Singers, and has also been active in conducting her own works and other orchestral repertoires. Her conducting mentors included Alan Cumberland, Wing-Sie Yip, and has attended Maestro Bernard Haitink's conducting masterclass in (RCM 2004, Lucerne festival 2015, 2016 and 2018) and Pierre Boulez s' composition masterclass in London. 

Since her return from London in 2005, she has been active in teaching composition, piano and advanced theory. Stella won many orchestral trial prizes when she was studying in HKAPA - Black mountain for orchestra, Poem for orchestra and As time goes by for orchestra. She was invited to compose an orchestral piece with scholarship on celebrating the Hong Kong Peninsula Hotel 75th anniversary.  She also invited composing a piece - Echoes for oboe and orchestra dedicated to the Dean of HKAPA Prof. Anthony Camden. In January 2009, Her piece Sublimation I for clarinet and piano was performed in Carnegie Hall in New York. Her piece Cherry Blossom was premiered in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in June 2009 and received many praises for its artistic communication between the organ and the piano.  In Dec 2009, her piece Tea for Two Sopranos was performed in City Hall, which was highly praised by the critics and the audience. Duet SAND for guitar and piano was performed in the WGC concert in 2011. Her composition embraced different images of advanced art form from time to time. 

After her graduation from the Royal College of Music (London). Stella was invited as guest conductor conducting the Shatin Philharmonic orchestra and the Hong Kong Tak Ming Philharmonic Orchestra. Public performances including orchestral overtures, symphonies and concerti.

In 2010 September, she was invited to join an international masterclass for orchestral conducting with Maestro Michail Jurowski and performing with Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra in Vilnius, Lithuania. In July 2012, she joined an international conducting master class in Czech with Kirk Trevor, Donald Schleicher and Tomas Netopil and performing with Bohuslav-Martinu Philharmonie Zlin. She conducted the Kharkov Philharmonic Orchestra (UKraine) in June 2013, highly acclaimed by the audience and the local critics. In Sept 2013, she was commissioned to compose and conduct her new piece “The Third Day” for HKBDA wind band, depicting Jesus’s resurrection. In July 2014, she collaborated with the prize-winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition, Colleen Lee, in a performance of Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor in Hong Kong Cultural Centre. 

In December 2014, Stella was invited to compose a brass ensemble for the HKAPA alumni concert. In May 2015, Stella composed a Peace Overture for a well known Horn player - Frank Lloyd and brass ensemble. She conducted Grieg's Piano Concerto with gifted pianist Alan Chu on June 2016. Stella has been invited for studying with Maestro James Judd in July 2016 for conducting masterclass in Hong Kong. Recent composition included Ave Maria of Fatima for flute and piano performed in CUHK in June 2017. She was active in Windband conducting with two concerts (including Bernstein’s Westside story and 1/1/2018 New Year concert. ) In 2018-19, Stella is focusing on piano accompaniment for violin, cello and flute. She is now composing an orchestral work. Stella is also an encouraging music teacher and many of her students got music scholarship, composition and piano competition prizes over 20 teaching years both in local and international.