Lio Kuokman is named the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Macao Orchestra. He will begin his initial 3-year tenure from the 2023/24 season. A native of Macao, Lio and the orchestra share a fruitful history as he currently serves as the Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor. He is also the Programme Director of the Macao International Music Festival and Resident Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Lio will conduct the Macao Orchestra for their sold out season closing concert on 29 July. The all-Beethoven programme, at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium, features the composer’s Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 56, for which Lio will play/conduct from the keyboard and be joined by violinist Josef ©paèek and cellist Pablo Ferrández; and Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 “Choral” with soprano Noriko Tanetani, alto Shoko Toya, tenor Tatsuya Takahashi, bass Daisuke Ohyama and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Chorus.
Lio Kuokman possesses a “startling conducting talent” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and is known for his graceful intensity, evocative performances, and the enthusiastic response he draws from orchestras and audiences. Recent European highlights include frequent engagements with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, including the Orchestra’s first tour of Saudi Arabia, their season opening and New Year concerts across 22/23 season; debuts with the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic, NSO Dublin, RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Madrid, RTV Slovenia and Gävle Symphony Orchestra which all led to immediate re-invitations. Beyond Europe, in the recent years Lio conducted Barbiere di Siviglia at the National Taichung Theater returned to the Philadelphia Orchestra for their Lunar New Year Concert.
In addition to concerts and tours with the Macao and Hong Kong Philharmonic orchestras, highlights of the first half of his 2023/24 season include returns to National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Philadelphia Orchestra, Monte-Carlo Philharmonic and Gävle Symphony Orchestra.
Lio is a frequent collaborator with the NTSO in Taiwan, and has previously worked with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Detroit Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, NHK, Hiroshima, Tokyo Metropolitan, Kyoto Symphony, Russian National Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic and Latvian National Symphony.
Educated at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory, Lio is a founding member and President of the Macao Chamber Music Association. For his contributions to the development of arts and culture, Kuokman received a Certificate of Commendation and Medal of Cultural Merit from both governments of Hong Kong and Macao. In 2021 Lio was the recipient of the Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Young Persons award.
