ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR

Photo credit: Ho-Yin Kwok

Described by Classical Voice of North Carolina (CVNC) as an "impressive conductor…outstanding in his attention to detail and his command of the big picture", Ho-Yin Kwok is the winner of 2017-2018 Vincent C. LaGuardia, Jr. Conducting Competition. He serves as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Mississippi Valley Orchestra and was twice named Conducting Fellow of Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, where he conducted the faculty ensemble, Eastern Festival Orchestra, and Guilford Symphony Orchestra.

Ho-Yin has previously served as assistant conductor of Collegium Musicum Hong Kong and assisted its debut in Carnegie Hall of New York City. He also conducted tours with the Hong Kong Baptist University Symphony in Southern China and concerts in Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Other previous conducting positions include conductor of Sacred Heart Canossian College Orchestra and St. Stephen’s College Orchestra, with which he made his debut in Großer Musikvereinssaal, Vienna and won 1st Prize in the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival 2014.

Besides conducting, Ho-Yin is also a keen violinist. As a soloist, Ho-Yin has collaborated with orchestras of the University of Minnesota, University of Iowa, Hong Kong Baptist University, Collegium Musicum Hong Kong, Orchestra of Shenzhen Arts School and Hong Kong Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has performed solo in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Leipzig, Munich, Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, Minneapolis and other cities around the world.

​Equally active is his participation as an orchestral player. He served as concertmaster of Pro Arte Orchestra of Hong Kong, Collegium Musicum Hong Kong, University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Baptist University Symphony Orchestra. He has performed in masterclasses of renowned violinists, including Ryu Goto, Hagai Shaham, Alexander Gilman, and Gottfried von der Goltz. Ho-Yin is currently second violinist of Voce String Quartet and lead violinist of the Chi-fa Trio at the University of Iowa, with which he collaborated with musicians of Ensō String Quartet and played for, among many others, David Shifrin, the Julliard Quartet, the Pacifica String Quartet, the Brentano String Quartet, Cavani String Quartet, Ying Quartet, and the JACK Quartet.

​Ho-Yin is currently a doctoral teaching assistant at the University of Minnesota. Previously, Ho-Yin obtained Master degree in Orchestral Conducting from University of Iowa and Bachelor degree from Hong Kong Baptist University. Additional studies have taken him to Berlin, where he conducted the Berlin Sinfonietta under the direction of Colin Metters. He also studied with Gerard Schwarz, Grant Cooper, José -Luis Novo and Eric Garcia. His principal conducting teachers are Mark Russell Smith and William LaRue Jones.