Tsz Hin Ko

Biography

Bill Ko won the Gloucestershire Young Musician of the Year 2019 competition at the age of 15, and this raised his profile in the UK quickly through performances as part of the Cheltenham Music Festival, including one at Stowell Park promoted and attended by the late Lord Vestey, who served as Master of the Horse to Queen Elizabeth II. Bill’s year as Gloucestershire Young Musician culminated in him performing the Walton Viola Concerto with the Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra under Glyn Oxley in November 2019, and this included media coverage from BBC Radio Gloucestershire. Following this, he has been booked for a performance of the Walton in the Shen Zhen Concert Hall in China.

Bill has achieved his LTCL diploma in violin from Trinity College and is currently preparing for his FTCL recital in viola. He currently studies in the Sixth Form at Cheltenham College and he often performs with the Cheltenham College Senior String Quartet, Senior Piano Quintet, and the College Symphony Orchestra. He is very active in other school activities: he composed and played the music for a house play at Cheltenham College and is currently discovering his new interest in composition. On top of all this, Bill has recently been appointed Head of School.

Bill Ko is a graduate of the Hong Kong Academy of Performance and Arts Junior Music Programme and is currently under the tuition of Louise Lansdown, the Head of Strings at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Recently, Bill was accepted into the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the City of Birmingham City Youth Orchestra, where he leads the viola section In addition, Bill Ko is also an international musician who has participated in many different music festivals around the world, including: the Ameropa International Chamber Music Festival in Prague, Burgos International Music Festival in Spain, Master Player Festival in the USA, and Schlern International Music Festival in Italy. He has studied with many maestros across the world such as Vadim Mazo, Cindy Chen, and Born Lau, to name a few.

Growing up in a musical family, Bill Ko has performed frequently with his mother Vivian Cheng who is a professional concert pianist, and his brother Aaron Ko, who plays the violin and the Erhu in Hong Kong and with various music festivals. He is greatly supported by his family and his father has always been a keen audience member in many of their concerts. Besides playing the viola and violin, Bill Ko enjoys singing and he has achieved his ABRSM Grade 8 singing with Distinction recently. He won the 2017 World Choir Games as a member of the Diocesan Boys’ School Senior choir and currently sings with the Cheltenham College Schola Cantorum. He was one of the core members of the Opera Hong Kong Children Chorus and has played major roles in the children chorus productions such as King Arthur in the play King Arthur and the Mad Hatter in Alice @ Wonderland. Bill loves singing and is continuing his vocal studies under the guidance of Richard Coxon.

In addition to making music, Bill Ko has excelled in archery and has won numerous awards as a member of the Diocesan Boys’ School Archery Team. Having only learned archery since Year 7, he has participated in many archery competitions in Hong Kong and he was the Champion of the 2017 Interschool Archery Competition open to age 13-14 archers. Recently, Bill Ko has grown his interest towards badminton and enjoys playing it for fun.

After winning the Gloucestershire Young Musician of the Year 2019, Bill felt that the experience was very rewarding and that he has grown from an ‘unmatured potato’ to a ‘freshly-baked potato with butter and cheese’. Bill is now in great demand as a soloist and he is looking forward to future opportunities after a quieter year due to the coronavirus pandemic.