Begonia Chan

Biography

Begonia Chan (Hong Kong, 1997) started her musical journey at the age of 4 learning the violin and the piano at 5. However her passion soon turned to the cello at the age of 9 and she began her pursuit as a cellist. Within a year of playing, she successfully admitted into the Shenzhen Arts School in 2008, studying under Prof. Yi Hao Zhang. Subsequently being scouted in 2013, she began her studies in the class of Lucia Swarts at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague in the Netherlands, completing her Bachelor’s degree by the age of 20. She recently completed her Master’s degree in Germany under the tutelage of Ramón Jaffé at the Hochschule für Musik Dresden, graduating with high full marks across the board.

As an all-rounded musician, Begonia has performed with orchestras, ensembles, and as a soloist in venues such as the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t Ij Amsterdam, De Doelen Rotterdam, Hong Kong City Hall and the Shenzhen Concert Hall with conductors including Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Manfred Honneck, Etienne Siebens, Antony Hermus and Benjamin Zander. In the summer of 2019 she was selected to play as a soloist with the Baden-Baden Philharmonie as part of the closing concert of the Carl Flesch Academy. She also had the privilege of performing Stockhausen’s Orchester Finalisten as solo cellist at the Holland Festival 2017 under the guidance of Kathinka Pasveer.

She has participated in several competitions, winning first prize at the Hong Kong Youth Strings Competition under the Senior Class category in 2010, and first prize in both Open Class and Bach Division of the 6th Hong Kong Virtuosos Music Competition in 2015. She also received an honorable mention at the Princess Christina Competition in the Netherlands in 2013, and an incentive prize in 2014. In 2016 she was selected to participate in the National Cello Concours of the Cello Biennale Amsterdam.

Begonia’s additional artistic inspiration comes from her participation in a number of summer festivals including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festical, International Summer Academy Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, PyeongChang Music Festival in Korea, Youth Classics in Switzerland, and masterclasses with acclaimed cellists such as Jian Wang, Laurence Lesser, Harro Ruijsenaars, Dmitry Ferschtman, Hans Jensen, Louise Hopkins, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Enrico Bronzi, Troels Svane, and Wolfgang Boettcher.