Ching-Hui Kuo
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Bio
A native of Taiwan, Ching-Hui Kuo graduated from the Conservatorio A. Casella of L’Aquila with honours, and obtained a scholarship at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena to study with tenor Carlo Bergonzi. She also participated in master classes at the Associazione Euphonia, the Prague Music Academy and at the Bratislava Music Academy and is also a holder of a Master degree from the University of Montreal, in Canada.
Award-winner of several competitions such as the Dvorák International Voice Competition, the Chinese International Vocal Competition, the International Stepping Stone, the Czech and Slovak musical Meetings, Ching-Hui Kuo has also received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for Young Canadian opera singers and the Office Franco-Québécois pour la Jeunesse.
Her past performances include Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra for the Prague International Autumn Festival which was broadcast live on European Union Radio; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan which was recorded for public television; Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Taipei Philharmonic Foundation; Dvorák’s Stabat Mater with Grand Choeur de Montréal and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Montréal in its premiere of Liszt’s Missa Coronationalis. Ms. Kuo also gave live recitals for Radio-Canada and other concerts with the Festival di mezzo estate di Tagliacozzo, the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, the Laval Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Youth Orchestra, etc. Finally, she recorded contemporary music for Italian Radio Tre-RAI.
A highly expressive artist also known for her stage presence, Ching-Hui Kuo has sung the roles of Fiordiligi (Così Fan Tutte), Mimì (La Bohème), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), and The First Lady (Die Zauberflöte). Her roles also include Antonia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Ciò-Ciò San (Madama Butterfly), Liù (Turandot), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) and Micaëla (Carmen). She will sing Ortlinde (Die Walküre) with the National Symphony Orchestra in Taipei, under Maestro Wen-Pin Chien, in September 2006.
Ms. Kuo has a great interest in the hauntingly beautiful repertoire of early 20th Century Chinese art songs, which are often featured in her recitals. We recently heard them at some the Maison de la culture NDG in Montreal, at the Accès Asie Festival, and at the marvellous Champagne Concerts series for the Vancouver Triad Music Society.
In May 2007, she will sing with le Choeur de Laval, Giaccomo Rossini's La Petite Messe Solennelle. In June, she will present her own program, "Silken Dreams" at l'International de l'art vocal de Trois-rivières.
Ching-Hui Kuo speaks Taiwanese, Mandarin, French, English, Italian and basic German. She sings also in Czech, Slovak and Spanish.