Charles Kwong

Charles Kwong is a composer from Hong Kong whose practice approaches music as collective experiential situations - both within and beyond listening. His creative output spans orchestral music, collaborations with performers across diverse musical cultures, site-specific and transdisciplinary projects that depart from the conventional concert paradigm, and the exploration of performativity in electronic sound synthesis.

Kwong’s music has been featured at festivals such as Lucerne Forward, Ultraschall Berlin, Takefu, Ticino Musica, La Roque d’Anthéron, Marvão and ManiFeste. Recent commissioners include the Lucerne Festival, Takefu International Music Festival, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Ensemble Recherche, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Tai Kwun Contemporary, and the Hong Kong Arts Festival. 

He was the Artist Associate of Hong Kong Sinfonietta in 2020-2022, an invited composer at the Takefu International Music Festival in 2018 and 2025, and as well undertook artist residencies at Initiative Freie Musikszene Zürich (2024), the Zurich University of the Arts (2020), and Tai Kwun Contemporary (2020). 

Recent highlights of Kwong’s artistic activities include a new orchestral commission from the Lucerne Festival in summer 2025 to commemorate the centenary of Pierre Boulez; Piano Concerto Hereafters (2023), written for Hong Kong Sinfonietta and pianist Colleen Lee; and Lullabies (2022), an orchestral piece commissioned to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of Hong Kong City Hall, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Edward Gardner.

Born in Hong Kong in 1985, Kwong studied music in Hong Kong and London in his formative years, and earned his doctorate in Composition from the University of York in 2013 under the supervision of Thomas Simaku. His artistic development has also benefited significantly through the tutelage of Toshio Hosokawa.