“The Hong Kong Philharmonic has appointed a resident conductor, a practical move with Music Director Jaap van Zweden back home in the Netherlands and unable to travel or conduct his HK band without quarantining for two weeks on either end,” writes Susan Elliott in Tuesday’s (12/1) Musical America (subscription required). “The new man is Lio Kuokman; he starts December 1 for a period of two years, through 2022, and is obligated to lead three programs per season, along with family concerts and recorded performances for streaming. Born in Macao, Lio, 39, trained as a pianist and conductor at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts before attending the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the New England Conservatory. He is the only Chinese conductor ever to have served as assistant at the Philadelphia Orchestra, in this case under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He has been program director of the Macao International Music Festival since last January. It was Lio who led the HK Phil’s season opening concert in October, after which all personnel were sent into quarantine on discovering that the bass clarinet had contracted Covid-19. Lio is next scheduled to lead the orchestra on December 12.”
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