Caleb Wong,

ViolA

黃立恆,

中提琴

An active chamber musician in the United States, Europe and Asia, Caleb Wong is the founding violist of Cong Quartet. The quartet is currently the Ensemble-in-Residence of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, they were also the resident artist at Musique à Flaine in France in 2023. With the quartet, Caleb was a laureate at Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Salzburg Mozart International Chamber Competition, International Music Competition Triomphe de l’Art in Brussels, Kreutzer International Music Competition and Virtuoso & Belcanto Festival Chamber Music Competition. He also took part & performed in many chamber music festival with the quartet including the String Quartet Biennale in Paris, Robert Mann String Quartet Institute & the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar in New York, the Ashkenasi Kirshbaum Chamber Music Seminar at The Heifetz International Music Institute and many others. 

Caleb has studied & worked closely with the Pacifica, Borromeo, Dover, Juilliard and Shanghai Quartet, and members of the Alban Berg, Cleveland, Danel, Ebene, Guarneri, Jerusalem, Tokyo & Vermeer String Quartet among others. Caleb played in a quartet in South Korea sponsored by Artsylvia Foundation before forming the Cong Quartet. He has performed with world-renowned artists such as Yovan Markovitch, Kim Kashkashian, Enrico Pace, Yuri Bashmet, Joshua Bell, Timo-Veikko "Tipi" Valve, Quatour Danel and Jerusalem Quartet. He had also competed in solo competitions such as the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and the Washington International Competitions.

As an orchestral musician, Caleb was previously a member of The Orchestra Now (TŌN) in New York, and played with many orchestras across the US. During his time in New York, Caleb performed regularly in world famous venues like the MET museum, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and recorded with labels such as Naxos and Sorel Classics. He has also subbed in many major orchestras in America & Europe namely the New York Philharmonic & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. After returning to Hong Kong, Caleb has appeared with many major ensembles in town, including the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Musicus Soloists Hong Kong, and served as a guest principal violist at the Opera Hong Kong Orchestra & Hong Kong String Orchestra.

Caleb received his musical education in Hong Kong, London, Indiana, New York and the Netherlands. His important teachers were Kaori Wilson, Kazuhide Isomura and Edward Gazouleas. His other influential mentors include Ivan Chan, Michael Tree & Mai Motobuchi. Caleb plays on a viola which is a part of the set of instruments that Yair Hod Fainas made for the quartet’s 10th anniversary, he also plays on a 1606 Brothers Amati viola sponsored by an anonymous donor.

中提琴手黃立恆是一位活躍於世畀各地的室樂演奏者。自2015年創立Cong四重奏，立恆出席了紐約羅伯特曼恩四重奏研討會、茱莉亞四重奏研討會、海飛茲國際音樂節的室樂研討會、法國Flaine室樂節、冰島哈帕國際音樂節的四重奏研討會、阿波斯特爾群島室樂節等多個室樂盛匯，受不同世級界四重奏指導，當中包括上海四重奏、鮑羅丁四重奏、艾默森四重奏、瓜奈里四重奏、耶路撒冷四重奏、茱莉亞四重奏和東京四重奏等等。Cong四重奏是香港中文大學的駐校四重奏和駐校藝術家，並是意大利Virtuoso & Belcanto音樂節室樂比賽的最高榮譽Adolfo Betti獎得主，亦在班夫國際弦樂四重奏大賽、薩爾斯堡莫扎特室樂國際比賽、比利時Triomphe de l’Art等多個國際音樂比賽中得獎。立恆曾參與華盛頓國際弦樂比賽和特蒂斯國際中提琴大賽等獨奏比賽，並獲南韓Artsylvia基金贊助。

立恆曾為活躍的樂團樂手，擔任過紐約樂團The Orchestra Now (TŌN)、美國伊凡斯維爾交響樂團和肯德基歐文斯伯勒交響樂團的樂手，亦曾參與過紐約愛樂團、紐約市歌劇團樂團和皇家音樂廳管弦樂團等著名樂團的演出，多年來曾與不同指揮大師合作。在紐約期間，立恆定期在大都會藝術博物館、卡奈基音樂廳和林肯中心等世界標誌性場地演出，並為拿索斯和Sorel Classics等唱片公司錄音。回港後，立恆間中亦會在各個樂團作客席演出，包括香港管弦樂團、誼樂社「樂．誼獨奏家樂團」以及曾為香港歌劇院樂團和香港弦樂團客串中提琴首席。

立恆在香港中文大學音樂系畢業，赴美後在印第安納大學積可斯音樂學院先後獲得中提琴演奏碩士和樂團演奏文憑，期間獲頒全費獎學金。及後在香港演藝學院、紐約和荷蘭等地方深造。立恆曾隨多位著名中提琴老師學習，當中最重要幾位為熊谷佳織、嘉素利亞斯以及東京四重奏的磯村和英。其他老師包括香港演藝學院的陳浩堂老師、 瓜奈里四重奏的米高瑞爾和博羅美奧四重奏的元淵舞等等。

在印第安納大學就讀期間，立恆是交響樂團和暑期管弦樂團的中提琴首席。他在修讀碩士時副修小提琴教學法，曾隨 Mimi Zweig (Joshua Bell之啟蒙老師）及美國弦樂教師協會主席布倫達·布里納博士兩位知名小提琴教學家學習和共事，在為幫助問題兒童的Fairview小提琴計劃中擔任小提琴老師和在印第安納大學弦樂學院任室樂導師。立恆使用一部由Yair Hod Fainas為Cong四重奏十週年而製作的中提琴，以及獲匿名贊助一部由阿馬蒂兄弟於1606年所製的中提琴。