Fiona Foo
malletSTATION artist / solo / independent
Overview
Fiona Foo Pui-yee’s sensational performances with impeccable techniques and splendid movements always succeed to give a pleasant surprise to the audience. Fiona is a versatile soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. She started to perform on stage in concerts as solo pianist at the age of four and as percussionist at six. Her performances are hailed as “excellent coordination with many contemporary techniques superbly demonstrated”, “very expressive and demonstrating a unique and beautiful style of playing”, “full of character and style; accurate in every way”. Fiona has also the accolade of being one of pioneers for 8-mallet grip.
Fiona has won in various solo marimba competitions, including the 1st Prize and Premio Speciale “Paolo Serrao Prize” in European Music Competition in Italy; 1st Prize and top grand prize “Best Competitor Masterplayers Prize” in Masterplayers International Music Competition in Switzerland; 1st Prize in YAMAHA Europe Music Foundation Award; and other prize laureates such as Universal Marimba Competition in Belgium and several concerto competitions etc. She had live performances on various TV shows and radio broadcasts. She was also invited to perform as a marimba soloist for concertos with various orchestras under the baton of world-renowned conductors such as Takuo Yuasa, Alim Shakh and Alexander Shelly etc.
Fiona graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance with Honours, and pursued her studies with Alan Cumberland (Timpani, former principal timpanist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra), Lung Heung Wing (Western Percussion, former principal percussionist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra) and Yim Hok Man (Chinese Percussion, principal timpanist of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra). She went on to obtain her Master’s Degree in Music, with specialisation in Solo Marimba, and Master’s Degree in Chamber Music in Leuven University College of Arts (LUCA, School of Arts, Hogeschool voor Wetenschap & Kunst Lemmensinstituut) in Belgium, under the guidance of world-renowned marimba virtuoso Ludwig Albert, both graduated with Highest Distinction. Fiona’s other qualifications include from Trinity College London, Recital Diploma (Associate, ATCL) in Performance in Solo Piano and Percussion; Recital Diploma (Licentiate, LTCL) in Percussion with Distinction; and Recital Diploma in Performance with the highest level of Fellowship (FTCL).
Fiona is a prolific musician, she performed extensively across the continents including Austria, Belgium, China (Mainland), Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Luxembourg, Macao, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States.
She is a world class producer of concert percussion and custom brass instruments and also the Artistic Director of the International Hong Kong Percussion Convention, competition & festival.