Freespace Jazz Fest: Experimental Lab

Guitar

Berlin-based guitarist Eric Wong was born in 1981 in Minneapolis, grew up in Hong Kong, and studied psychology at the University of Minnesota and audio production and engineering at the Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis. Wong performs original works and works by other composers, both as a soloist as well as in groups such as BISTRE, Panomorph and möbelgruppe. Collaborators include Fredrik Rasten, Siri Salminen, Johnny Chang, Matthias Müller, Guilherme Rodrigues, Brad Henkel, Ute Wassermann, Sayori Izawa, Yan Jun, Beat Keller, Quentin Tolimieri and Derek Shirley. Wong has released albums for solo and group projects on the labels Edition Wandelweiser, Creative Sources and Inexhaustible Editions.

Trumpet

Trumpet player and photographer Carina Khorkhordina was born in Kaliningrad, Russia in 1991 and has been based in Berlin since 2014. Alongside performing and developing her work on the trumpet, she is currently working with different musicians on a series of site-specific performances in public spaces in Berlin that are presented as short films and bring together her interests in urban space, the sonic possibilities of the trumpet, field recordings, video documentation and photography. Khorkhordina has been performing improvised and experimental music since 2017. Current collaborations include a duo with Eric Bauer, Slurge (with Eric Bauer, Burkhard Beins, Wolfgang Seidel) and Klub Demboh.

Saxophone

Classical saxophonist Charles Ng is a prominent soloist performing with a number of chamber groups, wind ensembles and orchestras. After graduating from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in Saxophone Performance (First-class Honours), he furthered his education in Vienna and obtained an MA in classical music with a specialisation in solo performance at the Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland. Despite the pandemic, he has continued to perform and hold masterclasses across Europe. He has been a faculty member at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts since 2019.

Saxophone

Originally from Spain, Joan Jordi Oliver is a saxophonist, composer and producer currently based in Zurich, Switzerland. His multifaceted work is dedicated to new and experimental music that rejects stylistic borders and probes the extremes of his instrument. Oliver’s recent creative output explores practices related to ambient and drone music, culminating in several experimental electronic music albums. He has performed as a soloist and with different groups in concert halls all over Europe, the United States, Canada and Asia.

Violin

Iulia-Andreea Smeu (aka KITE) is a multidisciplinary Romanian artist based in Basel, Switzerland. With a strong background as a classical violinist, Smeu creates a conceptual universe through electroacoustic and digital sound, spoken word and visual elements (video). Her artistic practice explores the potential of hybrid forms of expression and formats by renouncing labels and embracing deskilling in its conceptual apprehension to serve the artistic purposes.

Keyboards

Hong Kong pianist, composer, arranger, producer and music director Daniel Chu has collaborated across disciplines with well-known artists. In 2018, he formed the electroacoustic music trio manvsmachine with sound designer hirsk and drummer Blue Kwok, and has since performed with them at festivals in Europe and Asia. In 2021, Chu presented his work Game Play with Freespace Ensemble and the solo piano recital Extremes. In 2022, he was music director for Terence Lam and The Absent Brother’s MOOV Digital Concert and keyboardist for Freespace Ensemble Pop Plus: Kraftwerk Reimagined, and presented two solo piano sets spotlighting the ballads of Leslie Cheung.

Erhu

Luk Long-man is an erhu musician and sound artist based in Hong Kong. He performs across genres and is inspired by folk instruments, synths and field recordings, as well as the generative potential of electronic music and the wonder of natural soundscapes. To extend the sonic experience, his recent works adopt a range of practices, including spatial sound design, creative coding, VR installation, game design and oscilloscope animation.

Electronics

Larry Shuen is a Hong Kong-based composer and multidisciplinary artist whose artistic practice includes music for concerts, film scores, interactive programming, video essays, sound art, installation art and media art. In recent years, Shuen has also been active in theatre production. Shuen is the sound designer of Unlock Dancing Plaza’s 2022 production Six Mouths. His recent multidisciplinary work Goin’ Goin’, a collaboration with artist Cheng Nga-yan, explores a superimposed relationship between sound, virtual navigation and an exercising body.

Electronics

Charles Kwong is a Hong Kong-based composer whose creative output focuses on orchestral music, chamber compositions for musicians across various musical cultures, site-specific music and experimental transdisciplinary work. Experiential in nature, Kwong’s work explores notions of time and space as revealed by sounds and listening, the eclecticism of juxtaposed performance practices, site specificity, and the performativity of musical forms and genres. Kwong’s music has been performed in Asia and Europe. Recent collaborators include the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Ensemble recherche and Lucerne Festival, among others.

Electronics

Lawrence Lau Hiu-kong graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Electronic Music from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Media from the City University of Hong Kong. Lau’s work spans composition, live performance and audiovisual art, and has been performed at the Asian Composer League Conference and Festival (Taiwan), Hong Kong Arts Festival, highSCORE Festival (Italy) and Musicus Fest. His recent productions for theatre include Faust, Das Prinzip Meese and The World Was Once Flat.

Electronics

Born in Hong Kong, artist Fiona Lee creates work derived from the intersection between installation and improvisation performance. For Lee, listening creates an important connection between self and the world, allowing her to feel the movement of every single moment. Lee’s creations represent her exploration and acceptance of her own and others’ possibilities. Her work integrates built-up electronics and DIY sound objects, creating new experiences between musicians and audience within the performance space.

Drums, Percussion

Known for being part of local indie band Chochukmo, Hong Kong drummer KITTLAU :: kittytrouble collaborates with a variety of artists working across music, art and theatre. Between 2016 and 2019 he created music and performed live with Windmill Grass Theatre in a number of productions, including Lazy People Love Travelling and The Best Day In My Life. In 2021 he collaborated on live music scoring with Olivier Cong in The Interpretation of Milou’s Dream and I'm afraid of. The same year, he also began scoring for short films and sound design. Lau is a spokesperson for Canopus Drums and Paiste Cymbals.

Electronics

Hong Kong-based sound designer and media artist Allison Fong obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre and Entertainment Arts from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, specialising in Sound Design. During her studies she worked as sound designer on a number of productions. Fong is a member of the new media art trio Plankton. Key media art performances and projects include Oo.ll.oO Against Alienation in Our New Normal, TechBox – art TALKS tech: TEA Student Ensemble and Sonic Anchor #37.

Bass

Bassist Wong Tak-chung is the co-founder of the Hong Kong jazz quartet In One Stroke who came together in 2014 and released their debut album in 2016. In 2017 the quartet performed two concerts at the EUROPAfest in Romania and completed their first tour of Europe and Taiwan. In 2018 they participated in the Hong Kong Jazz Marathon with renowned jazz trumpeter Alex Sipiagin at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium. The same year, Wong joined the Alan Kwan Quartet in an LCSD demonstration and lecture series. In 2019 Wong was a project director for the LCSD Community Cultural Ambassador Scheme promoting jazz in the community. Wong also performed at the 2009 Taiwan Jazz Festival and the Beishan Music Festival in 2011.

Media Art

Media artist Homan So is currently studying at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), majoring in sound design. During his studies he has worked as technical assistant for a number of media-related shows. In 2021, So was a lab assistant for Art TALKS tech at Freespace, helping student artists design and complete technical tasks. So also exhibited his own multimedia piece We at HKAPA’s Art Before Tech. More recently, So provided video technical support for HKAPA’s drama performance Song of Innocence and Experience.

Guitar

Hong Kong guitarist and theatre performer Michael Chan works with multiple performance groups including local indie band Bad Math, Shatin-based art collective TCKR, and free jazz group Fountain Collective. Chan has performed at Emax@Music Zone, Lost Stars Livehouse Bar and Eatery, Innonation Production Livestreams and various jazz gigs in the city, and is a co-founder of local jazz group Fountain de Chopin. From 2020 to 2021, he studied with Ensemble Transience, led by Ted Lo and Teriver Cheung, and completed a two-year programme with the Physical Theatre Institute at the Tang Shu-Wing Theatre Studio. He recently performed with Jonathan Yang’s cross-genre musical VENT! at Freespace.

Eurorack

Born in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong artist Loisey is an independent electronic music producer, sound designer, composer and live performer known for his meticulous arrangements of classical piano with a variety of instruments and IDM elements. In 2020, he founded the electronic and rap music label Alevia Records, and in 2021 he formed the electronic jazz fusion band Code.

Saxophone

Hong Kong jazz saxophonist Brian Cheung started classical saxophone training at the age of 10 and became interested in jazz at university. In 2019, after graduating from the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney, he returned to Hong Kong to build his musical career. He has performed at jazz events at various music venues around the city, including Lau Bak Livehouse, Lost Star Livehouse, Wontonmeen and Visage One, and at jazz events like Freespace Jazz Festival, Hong Kong Youth Jazz Collective and Ensemble Transience. Cheung also works in music-related education programmes and co-founded the free jazz group Fountain de Chopin with fellow musicians to promote the local jazz scene.

Saxophone

Hong Kong-based jazz saxophonist and educator Timothy Wan studied music in New Zealand and is a member of free jazz group Fountain de Chopin. Wan has performed at a variety of venues and collaborated on a range of projects including large and small ensembles, big band, fusion and pop performances, live streams and school tours. Wan is passionate about exploring new musical areas and introducing people of all ages and backgrounds to the Hong Kong jazz scene.

Media Art

Caesar Seto started his journey in the arts and entertainment industry in 2015. He holds a BFA (Hons) in Theatre and Entertainment Arts from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where he specialised in Sound. During his studies he worked on a number of new media art projects and participated in various showcases as sound designer and sound engineer. Seto’s key media art and installation projects include 420 Bad Trip (2018/19), 2020 (2019/20), Moan (2021) and Sunset Concert (2021). He recently collaborated as sound designer with emerging choreographer and independent dancer Terry Tsang on the showcase Mo4 Ngaan5 Tai2 – Juk6 with Jockey Club New Arts Power.

Drums, Percussion

Adonian Chan is a guitarist with instrumental rock band tfvsjs and a drummer with electronic pop artist Yuki Lovey. His band tfvsjs has released two albums, equal unequals to equal and zoi, and has performed at numerous music festivals, including Summer Sonic (Tokyo), Synchronicity (Tokyo), Sound of Munich Now (Munich), T Festival (Taipei), Strawberry Festival (Beijing) and Clockenflap (Hong Kong). Chan is also the design director of Trilingua Design, type designer of Chinese font Zansyu and design curator of deTour design festival (2020, 2021). Chan merges his interest in music and design in sound installation designs. Works in this area include the light and noise installation untitled speech, and public art installation sound of rebound.

Clarinet

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Linus Fung is a versatile clarinetist and a core member of the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble. Since 2016, he has performed at a number of festivals and arts events, including Shanghai New Music Week, Seoul International Computer Music Festival and Hong Kong Arts Festival. Fung has played clarinet with the renowned Wuji Ensemble and Freespace Ensemble, and given numerous solo recitals in Macau, Shantou, Manchester and Hong Kong, including a full-length recital in LCSD’s recent Our Music Talents Series. He is also a clarinetist with the LENK Quartet, established in 2021 by veteran pianist Nancy Loo.

Pipa

Co-founder and current concert leader of Wuji Ensemble, Mavis Lam Tsan-tong graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where she majored in Chinese Music. A seasoned pipa and ruan soloist, Lam has collaborated with choreographers, theatre directors and various arts groups, in live performances as well as improvisation music sessions. Recent performances include the Kumho Summer Festival 2016 in Finland, Hong Kong Dance Company’s Reveries of the Red Chamber and Vipassana, Jiangsu Province Performing Arts Company Opera and Dance Theatre’s Xiangjun-Dream, Wuji Ensemble’s Boundless Groove: A Sonic Journey in Nature, and the multimedia music theatre performance To Someone Alike.

Fretless guitar

A self-taught multi-instrumentalist and enthusiast for improvised music, Adam Neutron is known for his unorthodox methods of playing fretted and fretless guitars and various stringed instruments. Adapting knowledge from several fields of science, he experiments with deconstructing existing musical instruments and building original homemade creations. Neutron currently plays guitar in the instrumental rock band John Travoltron. He was the founder and leader of the improvised music ensemble Brown Note Collective and the experimental rock group Spermatic Chord.

Media Art

Hong Kong media artist Jack (aka 2Hz Resonance) designs generative visual elements using tools and techniques such as TouchDesigner, glitching and databending. Merging visual and musical languages, his work creates raw experiences that capture the nuances of human senses. As a director, 2Hz has created music videos and live session videos with musicians and bands such as Loisey, MAKA, Smoke in Half Note and Sexy Hammer. He has also created live visuals for bands and hip-hop artists including King Ly Chee, Code, Project 9, Parallel Horizons, Y5, Novel Friday and Anna HisbbuR.

Electronics, Guitar

Gut Lam graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with a BFA in Sound System Design and currently works in the field of sound engineering. Alongside his production work, Lam is a co-founder of NATP and Nocere & Co., a collaboration exploring the boundaries of audio-visual installations in immersive spaces. His work focuses on cross-disciplinary visual and sonic media, elevating the unique aesthetics of light and sound into immersive performances and installations.

Media Art

Independent, non-profit art organisation EJAR (EASTERN JADE Art Renaissance) was founded in 2020 by a Hong Kong-based arts collective. The aim of the organisation is to encourage a more vibrant cultural scene in the hybrid “East meets West” city of Hong Kong.

Guitar

Hong Kong-based record producer and musician Edward Chiu is a founding member, bass player and keyboardist with A New World If You Can Take It. The band has performed internationally in cities such as Shanghai, Taipei, Paris and Rekjavik. Chiu has collaborated with a number of acclaimed singers, including Christopher Owens, Anthony Wong, Eason Chan, Endy Chow and Kay Tse, as well as with local band Chochukmo. Since 2018, Chiu has also worked with media artists, performing in 18 scenes in a Cage by GayBird Leung, and collaborating with renowned media artist Keith Lam as composer and sound designer for the immersive media art journey The SUNATA in 2019.

Synthesiser

Songwriter and composer Olivier Cong is a music director with Freespace Ensemble and co-creator of the music label Raven & The Sea. He has commissioned works for Hong Kong Ballet and the Shanghai Opera House, and had compositions featured at the Hong Kong Light Pulse Festival and PMQ deTour Festival. Cong was music director for Chung Ying Theatre Company’s musical drama All My Life I Shall Remember. He also took part in Creation for Freespace: Choreographer and Composer Lab, recorded tracks for Freespace Mixtape Vol. 2 and 3, and participated in In Sync: Music in Motion (2021).

Guitar

Composer and guitarist Tsui Chin-hung graduated from the Berklee College of Music, where he majored in Composition. Tsui has studied music from different cultures and created compositions for a wide range of media. Former composer with Tsz Shan Monastery, Boston ALEA III Contemporary Music Ensemble and Hong Kong Ballet, Tsui was recently appointed music director and composer for Radix Troupe’s The Accidental Rainbow (2017) and 45mins Soulmate (2016). Tsui has written scores for Hong Kong feature films including Ciao UFO (2019) and Coffin Homes (2021), performed at EUROPAfest and music festivals in Asia, and collaborated with artists including Coco Lee, Kay Tse and Ivana Wong.

Double bass

Classical, jazz and experimental double bassist Nelson Fung performs with a range of jazz ensembles, big bands and pop artists and loves to explore musical boundaries. As the co-founder and double bassist with the young jazz ensemble Rootless Voyagers, he has performed at a number of festivals, including Freespace Jazz Fest 2020 and 2021, and the 2019 Jazz Marathon presented by LCSD. He has also played with the Patrick Lui Jazz Orchestra and collaborated with musicians such as Olivier Cong, Yoyo Sham, JB, manvsmachine and many more. Fung is currently a member of Freespace Ensemble.

Saxophone

Hong Kong based saxophonist and clarinetist Scott Murphy graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2014. After moving to Hong Kong in 2018, he quickly became an active member of the music scene in the city appearing with the likes of legendary guitarist John Stowell, drum master Kendrick Scott, saxophonist Will Vinson and local jazz hero Eugene Pao. Murphy regularly performs his own compositions with a variety of musicians in Hong Kong, as well as further afield around mainland China, Japan and Europe.

Electronics

CLOrk – Concordia Laptop Orchestra is an electroacoustic ensemble designed as an open platform for all forms of collective improvisation: sonic, musical, visual, kinetic, somatic, cognitive, parametric, networked, acoustic, narrative, gamified and anything else that can be imagined. Created by Dr Eldad Tsabary in 2011, the orchestra has collaborated with a number of renowned artists, including Ariane Moffatt, QUADr, Orchestre symphonique de l’Isle, Chris Chafe, among many others. CLOrk has no stylistic limitations or technological boundaries, and is held together by principles of collective imagining, the love of sound, an inclusive ground-up co-creation, celebration of diversity and respect for members and guests.

Gayageum

Gayageum player and composer Jungmin Seo performs and collaborates with artists of different genres. She is a former member of the Korean traditional music duo숨[suːm], and has spent nine years performing internationally at events such as Womex in UK, Womad in Australia and New Zealand, and SXSW Festival in the US. Jungmin has released a number of solo 25-string gayageum albums, including COSMOS25 (2016), HOME (2019) and UTOPIA (2021). COSMOS25 has been named a contender in the World Music Album category for the 2018 Grammy Awards.

Yanggeum

Expert yanggeum performer Hwiseon Choe is currently principal yanggeum player with the Gyeonggi Sinawi Orchestra and a member of Coterie CAIN. An acclaimed traditional musician, Hwiseon also works in improvised music and various collaborations. She developed and extended her skills in jazz and improvisation working with artists of various genres, such as the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Jambinai and jazz vocalist Younsun Nah, and has performed at a number of festivals, including the World Music Festival@Taiwan and Jarasum Jazz Festival.

Double Bass

Unbound by genre, Korean bassist In-hwan Choi masters a number of musical languages, creating and performing in jazz, pop and world music. He is currently a member of tango and jazz group La Ventana, and a member of NAMU – a group that combines jazz and traditional Korean music – as well as acting as music director for several ongoing projects.

Daegeum

Dasom Baek is a composer, lecturer and performer of multiple traditional instruments including the daegeum, sogeum and danso (large and small bamboo transverse flutes) and saenghwang (reed mouth organ), and pursues modern music rooted in traditional Korean instrumental performance. A Certified Master of Korea’s Important Intangible Cultural Asset, no.45, she is currently a PhD student at Seoul National University. Dasom has performed a concerto with the KBS Traditional Music Orchestra and a solo concert at the National Gugak Center in Seoul. Dasom was a fellow of the Art Omi: Music programme in New York in 2019 and a showcase artist at the SXSW Festival 2021. In August 2020, she released her debut album 무(無): Nothingness.

Haegeum

Kang-san Lee is a lecturer and performer of the haegeum, a traditional Korean string instrument that resembles a vertical fiddle. Lee received a Bachelor’s and Master's degree from the Korea National University of Arts, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Hanyang University. As a soloist, he has performed the traditional Korean composition Ji Young Hee ryu Haegeum Sanjo for the National Gugak Center’s YouTube channel, participated in Yulgaek hosted by the Korean Cultural Foundation and been recognised at the Korea National University of Arts Competition and the Dong-A Korean Traditional Music Competition. Currently engaged in a number of performances, Lee is also studying historical changes in the haegeum and preparing for a lecture-concert.

Geomungo

Geomungo musician In-a Kang studied Korean traditional music at the Korea National University of Arts. In 2015, she was nominated “Most promising artist of the year” and received a silver prize in the gugak national music contest hosted by South Korean broadcaster KBS. Kang is an expert in blending genres to produce creative and inventive music with traditional Korean instruments. Keen to expand the application of geomungo in a variety of performances and genres, she has produced and played musical pieces for performances such as dance theatre, traditional Korean musicals, puppet performances and more.