January 12 2022

Tommy vo, euphonium 

Originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Tommy Vo is a Canadian euphoniumist currently  pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of North Texas. Upon graduation, he  will become the first Canadian to receive a Doctorate in Euphonium Performance. 

Tommy often performs with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Lone Star Wind  Orchestra. As a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, he performs the Changing of the Guard on  Parliament Hill every summer with the Band of the Ceremonial Guard in Ottawa. Over the years,  Tommy has played principal euphonium with many diverse ensembles, including the University of  British Columbia Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Denis Wick Canadian Wind Orchestra. Most  recently, Tommy has extensively performed, premiered, and recorded with the North Texas Wind  Symphony, with their newest CD, “One for All,” being Grammy nominated. 

In 2019, he advanced to the semi-finals of the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference Solo  Competition, and was the first Canadian student to win the United States Air Force Band’s  Collegiate Symposium. In 2018, he was the first Canadian euphoniumist to compete as a semi finalist in the Leonard Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Festival. More recently, Tommy  has placed in the Vancouver Women’s Musical Society Bursary Competition and the Orchestral  Instrument Competition, and is the winner of the University of North Texas Concerto Competition,  where he will perform the Horovitz Euphonium Concerto with the UNT Concert Orchestra in  February.  

A champion for Canadian music, Tommy works closely with Canadian composers to perform and  premiere new music. In 2018, Tommy premiered Matthew Emery’s “A New Day” at the Toronto  Tuba and Euphonium Symposium. Tommy also had the honour of premiering “Traffic for  Trumpet, Alto Saxophone and Euphonium” by Taylor Hall in 2017. His premier performance of  Kyle McAllister’s Euphonium Concerto at the Toronto Tuba and Euphonium Symposium has been  postponed due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.  

Under the mentorship of David Childs, Tommy serves as a Graduate Teaching Fellow at the  University of North Texas. Tommy has also had the privilege of studying under Dr. Brian Bowman  and Peder MacLellan.

lucas wong, Piano

The author of The Multi-Functional Pianist, Canadian pianist Dr. Lucas Wong does in-person and remote music teaching, masterclass, adjudication, solo and collaborative performance, career and business consultation, and web and app development. Praised for "his gifts for colour, nuance and tasteful dynamic contrasts" (Gramophone), Dr. Wong has performed on many prestigious stages across a dozen countries on four continents, and recorded many albums now available on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube. As a Fazioli artist, his educational "The Fazioli Fourth Pedal" video on their official channel has attracted over thousands of views and praises.

His career highlights include multiple engagements at the Carnegie Hall, innovative recital programs like "Beyond 88" and the "Mostly Debussy" series, a complete performance of Des Knaben Wunderhorn at the Shanghai Conservatory, directorship of the complete Duparc melodies at Songfest in LA, and collaborations with American composers such as William Bolcom, Jake Heggie, Libby Larsen, and John Musto. Dr. Wong has collaborated with world-renowned artists such as trombonist Joseph Alessi, violinist Soovin Kim, mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, bassoonist Frank Morelli, clarinetist David Shifrin, and Erhu artist Fei Song. A versatile partner for both instrumentalists and vocalists, he is also a superb opera coach and assistant conductor. He is the founding artistic director of Liederfest in Suzhou. As an educator and administrator, Dr. Wong was a founding faculty member at the Soochow University School of Music (China), where he served as piano professor and coordinator for chamber music, collaborative piano, and staff accompanists. His recent academic publications are "The Multifunctional Pianist: The Recipe for Orchestral Color and Playing" on the NATS Collab Corner and "Humour in Late Debussy: Multiple Perspectives on Douze Études" on the Musical Times.

Dr. Lucas Wong designed and programmed 9 apps to date on the App Store, with each offering a particular solution (e.g. musical, linguistic, historical, or pedagogical) for the 21st century musician. 4D Accompanist is available in 175 countries and regions in both Chinese and English. It has previously peaked to #1 spot in the paid music category on the App Store. 4D Jam Connect, a web application, enables musicians to easily rehearse, teach, and collaborate in a low-latency and high-quality environment on virtually any browser of any size. It has been used by the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Lucas Wong began his early training at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He is a graduate of the University of British Columbia (B.Mus.) and Yale School of Music (M.M., M.M.A., D.M.A.). His key mentors include Boris Berman, Frank Corliss, Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, Michael Friedmann, Margo Garrett, Martin Katz, Warren Jones, Julian Martin, Edward Parker, Tak Poon, Richard Rephann, Rena Sharon, and Robert Silverman. He holds a Post-Graduate Associateship from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, a Post-Graduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship from Bard College Conservatory of Music, and a Teaching Fellowship at the Yale Department of Music. He has been generously supported by the Début Competition (Canada), the Marilyn Horne Foundation, the Yale School of Music Alumni Association, the British Columbia Arts Council, and the Vancouver Foundation. He earned his ARCT Teacher’s diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, for which he received a Gold Medal, the conservatory’s highest honor.

This recital is generously sponsored by Executive Member Susan Wong Lim

Programme

tommy vo, euphonium & lucas wong, Piano