DR. Fung Lam

Fung Lam first came to attention in 2005 when the BBC Philharmonic under James MacMillan gave the world premiere of his orchestral work Illumination, which was subsequently performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra and Manhattan School of Music Symphony.

He holds the distinction of being the youngest Chinese composer (and the first from Hong Kong) to be commissioned by the BBC, when, in 2007, he was invited to write a work for the BBC Concert Orchestra. Unlocking, which took inspiration from an exhibition of locks at the Victoria and Albert Museum, was given its premiere under Charles Hazlewood. A second BBC commission quickly followed: the miniature BE (2008) was heard at the Southbank Centre. In 2009, his work Yong (“Surge”) was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra the following year, at the Asian Music Festival by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of the composer. A commission for the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Rong (“Harmony”), was given its premiere at the World Expo Shanghai in 2010. His third BBC commission, the Darwinian influenced Endless Forms, received its world premiere at the BBC Proms in 2012, by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo. 2014 sees the premiere of his second commission for the Hong Kong Philharmonic, under Jaap van Zweden.

Fung Lam studied composition with Martin Butler, Michael Finnissy and Michael Zev Gordon at the Universities of Southampton and Sussex in UK, and was awarded a DPhil in composition from the latter in 2012. In the same year he received the Young Artist Award from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.