Pianist Kristian Chong is rapidly establishing himself as one of Australia's leading musicians. Performances have taken him throughout Australia and the UK, and also in China, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan, USA, and Zimbabwe. As concerto soloist he has appeared on numerous occasions with the Adelaide, Melbourne, Queensland, Sydney and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, and various orchestras in the UK and China under conductors such as Graham Abbott, Werner Andreas Albert, Andrey Boreyko, Nicholas Braithwaite, Roy Goodman, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Nicholas Milton, Tuomas Oillia, Marcus Stenz, Arvo Volmer and Marco Zuccarini. He has recorded and broadcast for Australian and American radio (WGBX - Boston), HKRT (Hong Kong), ABC-TV, and appears for Musica Viva Australia. His many competition successes include winning the Symphony Australia Young Performers Award (keyboard) and the Australian National Piano Award.
Performance highlights have included the Rachmaninoff 3rd piano concerto with the Sydney Symphony, the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini with the Beijing International Festival Chorus Orchestra, and the Britten Piano Concerto and Young Apollo with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Recent concerto highlights include Mozart's Concerto for two pianos with Caroline Almonte and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven's Emperor and Saint-Saens 2nd piano concertos in the UK, Beethoven's 2nd concerto with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and Shostakovich 2nd, Chopin 2nd and Beethoven's Emperor concertos in Melbourne.
More recent solo and chamber appearances include recitals in Hong Kong and Shanghai, the Huntington Festival (for Musica Viva Australia) the complete 24 Rachmaninoff Preludes at the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, the 2009 PIano Landmarks Series in Melbourne, the Shostakovich Piano Quintet with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players, and a 'Sunday Live' recital for ABC-Classic FM with violinist Natsuko Yoshimoto.
As a highly sought after chamber musician, in 2008 he gave an six concert Australian national tour with the Australian String Quartet and Ilya Konovalov, (concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic) performing Chausson's Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet. He has also performed with artists such as Teddy Tahu-Rhodes (bass-baritone), the Flinders Quartet, Caroline Almonte and Benjamin Martin (pianists), Kees Boersma, (double bass) and flautist Meg Sterling, principal flute of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he has given performances in Hong Kong, China and the USA. He is also in a violin-piano duo with Erica Kennedy.
Kristian is also a keen supporter of new Australian music, having played works recently by composers such as Michael Kieran Harvey, Roger Smalley, Raymond Chapman-Smith, Graeme Koehne, Julian Yu, Andrew Schultz and Carl Vine. He performs regularly for contemporary music group 'The Firm'.
Currently Kristian is based in Melbourne but until recently was based in London, where has completed studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Christopher Elton and Piers Lane. He was a recipient twice of the Dip. RAM, the academy’s highest performing accolade, the Walter MacFarren award for the best postgraduate final recital and the Dorothy Grimstead Memorial Award for the most outstanding returning postgraduate student amongst other awards. In Australia he studied with Stephen McIntyre at the University of Melbourne, where he is currently undertaking a PhD in performance as one of the University's prestigious 'Grimwade' Scholars. He also teaches Piano, Chamber Music and Piano Pedagogy at the University.
Upcoming performances in 2010 include piano duos with Caroline Almonte, recordings and recitals for ABC-Classic FM, appearances with violinists Erica Kennedy and Natsuko Yoshimoto ,the 2010 PIano Landmarks Series, and several recitals in Melbourne and Adelaide. He also will be performing at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, which includes performances with the Australian String Quartet, cellist Louise Hopkins, clarinettist Michael Collins and violinist James Cuddeford, amongst others.
