CUHK Lives and Legends

16 ‘My teachers at CUHK always stressed that, as opera singers, we must put equal emphasis on both singing skills and the mastery of semantics and syntax in the lyrics.’ B orn and raised in Hong Kong, soprano Louise Kwong  has made a name for herself as an opera singer whose international performances have taken her to different parts of Europe. The interview for this article took place in her music studio at Fortress Hill. With her long hair let loose and a charming smile, she was dressed in pink and came across more like the girl next door than someone who has sung various lead roles including Liu in  Turandot , Xiao Hong in Heart of Coral , Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly , and Mimì in La Bohème . A natural-born songstress, Louise joined the Hong Kong Children’s Choir at the age of nine. But she only began taking formal singing lessons after winning the first prize in solo singing in an interschool singing competition. She eventually went on to study music at CUHK. All thanks to the foundation-laying efforts during her university education, she is fluent in German and Italian, the two most common languages that make up the operatic canon. ‘My teachers at CUHK always stressed that, as opera singers, we must put equal emphasis on both singing skills and the mastery of semantics and syntax in the lyrics. I probably spent more time on foreign languages as minor subjects and background research on the songs than I did on vocal practice,’ Louise recalled. After graduating from CUHK, she headed off to Europe to further her studies. In addition to a postgraduate diploma from the Royal Academy of Music, and two master’s degrees, one from the Dutch National Opera Academy and one from the Conservatory of Amsterdam, she won the 2nd prize, Audience prize and Best Soprano prize in the 18th International Singing Competition ‘Ferruccio Tagliavini’ in Austria. Behind the accolades and the trophies, has she ever felt disadvantaged by her Asian background? ‘I wouldn’t call this “disadvantaged”. Yes, I’ve been rejected because of my pronunciation or the way I look. But that was only to be expected. Imagine someone coming from Europe auditioning for a role in a Cantonese opera performance. You would probably query if they would look the part or if their Cantonese is up to par,’ she said. After six to seven peripatetic years of studying abroad, she returned to Hong Kong in 2014 and soon became one of the most sought-after singers in her field. The various starring roles c c Louise Kwong (left, front row) playing Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte c c Rehearsing for Heart of Coral