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Kahchun Wong
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS
The Singaporean conductor Kahchun Wong first came to international attention as the winner of the Gustav Mahler Competition in 2016, following in the footsteps of Gustavo Dudamel, who immediately invited him to the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a Conducting Fellow in the 2016-17 season. Following a last-minute acclaimed debut with the Nuremberg Symphony, he was swiftly appointed as its next Chief Conductor, from the 2018-19 season.
A protégé of the late Kurt Masur, Wong had the privilege of sharing the podium with him on multiple occasions in his final years. He has also assisted Valery Gergiev and Yannick Nézet-Séguin with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Philharmonia Orchestra, Gustavo Dudamel at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Ivan Fischer at the Budapest Festival Orchestra.
Wong believes in the power of education to inspire and uplift, mirroring his own journey as a musician from a young Southeast Asian country. Together with Marina Mahler, the granddaughter of Gustav Mahler, they have co-founded Project Infinitude, a grassroots initiative that encourages children to explore and enjoy music.

PERFORMANCES
Wong has conducted some of the most distinguished international orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. His orchestral engagements in the 2019–20 season include debuts with Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg, Japan Philharmonic, Hyogo PAC Orchestra, Xi’an Symphony and National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) Orchestra in Beijing, as well as return appearances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Kanagawa Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony.
Wong’s career has also thrived closer to home in numerous appearances with leading Asian orchestras. He has stepped in at short notice for the indisposed Jesus Lopez-Cobos with the China Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony and Guangzhou Symphony. A frequent guest in Japan, he has conducted Tokyo Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Osaka Symphony, Kansai Philharmonic, Kyoto Symphony, Nagoya Symphony, Hiroshima Symphony and Kyushu Symphony.

HONOURS AND AWARDS
A protégé of Kurt Masur, Wong was handpicked by the maestro to attend five of his highly sought-after international conducting seminars, which culminated in a week of assistantship at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in September 2013. He also enjoys a close association with Bernard Haitink, who has invited him twice to his masterclass in conducting at the Lucerne Easter Festival; Esa-Pekka Salonen, who gave him the opportunity to work with the Philharmonia Orchestra as an assistant conductor finalist; and Robert Spano, who selected him as a conducting fellow of the Aspen Music Festival's American Academy for Conducting over two consecutive summers. In 2016, he won the first prize of the Gustav Mahler Competition.

EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE
Born in 1986, Wong studied harmony with Phoon Yew Tien, and read composition with Professor Ho Chee Kong at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (National University of Singapore). As the first-ever recipient of the distinguished Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship (Public Service Commission) in the field of Arts and Culture, he continued his studies in opera and orchestral conducting with Christian Ehwald and Hans-Dieter Baum at the Hanns-Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin, Germany. His interest in conducting was first supported by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and Music Director Tsung Yeh, with whom he counts as one of his most important mentors.
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