Samantha Chong

A native of Sabah, Malaysia, mezzo-soprano Samantha Chong has a widely varied repertoire ranging from early music, oratorio, songs, opera and contemporary works. Samantha is the winner of the 1st ASEAN Vocal competition, organised by Singapore Lyric Opera in 2016. She is also the 1st prize winner of the 41st National Singing Competition of Malaysia in 2015. After her graduation, she started her career as a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Hong Kong, Musica Viva and Global Symphony Orchestra. Samantha has made her Italian debut in 2019 with Teatro Petruzzelli, singing Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Recently, she was also invited to perform with Erasmus Orchestra, Hong Kong Art Festival, Hong Kong – Vienna Music Festival, Kuala Lumpur City Opera, Singapore Lyric Opera, Virama Music Malaysia, China Sichuan Music Conservatory and Mozart Festival in Shenzhen, China.

Her opera credits include Rosina in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Angelika in La Cenerentola, Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Prince Orlovsky in J.Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Stephano in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, Elisabetta in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, Hanna Glawari in Lehar’s The Merry Widow, Fox Goldenmane in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and etc..

On the concert platform, Samantha has appeared as a soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No.9 and Das Lied von der Erde,  Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 and Missa Solemnis, Händel’s Messiah, Mozart’s C Minor Mass and Requiem, Max Reger’s Hebbel Requiem, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Bach’s St. Markus Passion and B minor Mass, and many more.

In recent years, Samantha enjoys performing newly composed operas and symphonic works. This includes Zheng Yi-sao in Legend of Zhang Bao-zai, Hotel Attendant in Beauty and Sadness (world premiere), Huang in Legend of Phoenix (world premiere), Singer in Cantonese drama Rashomon and Shake Shake Spear (world premiere), Saint Cecilia of The Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia (world premiere), and the Asia premiere of Magnificat from a Garden in the Antipodes. Upcoming performances includes the title role of Carmen, the role of Yu in Women Like Us (2021 Hong Kong Art Festival chamber opera), Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s B minor Mass etc.

Samantha graduated with the Master of Music Degree, having earlier earned her Bachelor of Music Degree both at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). She received generous support from the FAMA Scholarship, John Hosier Trust Scholarship 2012, and Aedas Scholarship during her studies at the HKAPA and Melbourne Opera Studio.  Samantha is a member of 2015-2018 The Hong Kong Jockey Club Opera Hong Kong Young Artist Development Programme. Samantha is currently a faculty (Junior Music Program) at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

來自馬來西亞沙巴州的張吟晶現為香港的頂尖青年女中音歌唱家之一，演出經驗豐富且多元化。2015年她榮獲馬來西亞全國聲樂比賽女生組冠軍及全場總冠軍，2016年她榮獲新加坡歌劇院舉辦的東盟聲樂比賽冠軍。畢業後張氏屢獲香港管弦樂團，香港歌劇院，非凡美樂，香港藝術節等本地勁旅垂青，擔任主唱。2019年受邀於義大利Petruzzelli歌劇院演出《塞爾維亞理髮師》的羅西娜，為張吟晶首次在義大利擔任女主角。近年更受義大利Erasmus管弦樂團、吉隆坡城市歌劇團、維港音樂節、馬來西亞 Virama、新加坡歌劇院，四川音樂學院以及深圳莫札特音樂節等等，邀請擔任獨唱。

張吟晶曾演出的歌劇角色眾多，《塞爾維亞理髮師》的羅西娜、《灰姑娘》的安潔莉卡、《蝴蝶夫人》的鈴木，《女人皆如此》的多拉貝拉、《蝙蝠》的俄羅斯王子，《羅密歐與茱麗葉》的史提凡諾、《瑪麗亞 · 史都華特》的伊麗莎白一世、《風流寡婦》的漢娜、《狡猾的小狐狸》的鬃毛雄狐、以及《費加洛的婚禮》的凱魯比諾等等。此外。張吟晶曾多個聖樂及音樂會作品的獨唱，主要有馬勒《第八交響曲》，貝多芬《第九交響曲》和《莊嚴彌撒》，韓德爾《彌賽亞》，莫札特《C小調彌撒曲》和《安魂曲》、雷格《黑貝爾安魂曲》、夏龐蒂埃《謝恩讚美頌》、羅西尼《小莊嚴彌撒》、巴赫的《聖馬可受難曲》和《B小調彌撒》等。

近年，張氏也活躍於演唱各種新創作品，《張保仔傳奇》的鄭一嫂、交響詩《鳳凰傳奇》女聲獨唱、《美麗與哀愁》的服務員、粵語話劇《羅生門》和 《莎士对比亞》的歌手，聖樂作品《聖則濟利亞殉道記》的聖則濟利亞，以及亞洲首演紐西蘭作曲家Janet Jennings的聖樂作品 Magnificat from a Garden in the Antipodes。近年的重點演出包括歌劇《卡門》的女主角、香港藝術節全新室內歌劇《兩個女子》的小魚、巴哈的《B小調彌撒》以及韓德爾的《彌賽亞》等等。

張氏在香港演藝學院先後以優異成績完成音樂學士及碩士學位課程，學習其間有幸獲得FAMA獎學金及John Hosier Trust獎學金；2011至2012年更受凱達公司全力贊助前往墨爾本歌劇工作室深造。張吟晶為2015-2018年度香港賽馬會香港歌劇院青年演唱家發展計畫成員之一。現任現為香港演藝學院青少年音樂課程聲樂導師。