Cello prodigy Zlatomir Fung on his Hong Kong debut, playing with the UK’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and ‘showing off’
- Zlatomir Fung’s grandfather was born and raised in Hong Kong, and the cello prodigy will be playing in the city for the first time on April 17
- Fung, who turned 25 this month, has won numerous awards, and was recently asked to teach at Juilliard School, which he attended on a scholarship
Zlatomir Fung Yung-chi was still in his second year of music school when, aged 20 in 2019, he became the youngest cellist to win first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, one of the world’s most competitive music awards, which is held every four years in Russia.
His prodigious talent was spotted early on. He won a chain of awards as a teenager and then the merit-based Kovner Fellowship to study at the Juilliard School in New York City. Having turned 25 on April 11, he has already been asked to teach in the cello department at his alma mater.
On April 17, he will make his debut in Hong Kong, the city where his paternal grandfather was born and raised.
Performing in the Premiere Performance concert with local pianist Rachel Cheung Wai-ching, Fung has selected a programme featuring Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Janacek and… himself.
Fantasy on Jenufa for cello and piano is his own 2023 adaptation of Czech composer Leos Janacek’s opera Jenufa – an unusual endeavour.
