About Wuji Ensemble

About Wuji Ensemble

“Innovation” and “a strong stylistic identity” are the credo of Wuji Ensemble. Since its establishment in 2003, the group has pursued its commitment to creating a performing platform for local musicians, cultivating cultural insights and artistic endeavours. It regularly commissions new works, as well as rearrangements of Chinese and Western classical music, putting together innovative, cross-disciplinary and multimedia theatrical productions. The Ensemble is now a fully-fledged professional group. It aims to continue paving new paths for creative expression using tradition as the axis and drawing inspiration from both East and West, with myriad possibilities for interpretation and technology.

Wuji Ensemble has presented many large-scale multimedia performances and activities, with productions such as When Petals Fall in Serenity, Beyond the Senses, Sands and Beyond, Śūnyatā and Tranquil as a Chrysanthemum. It has released two CDs, The Impression of Wuji Ensemble and Ruan’s Touch of Fancy. In 2012, its “Images of Dunhuang” project presented themed concerts, lectures, cultural workshops, and masterclasses. The Ensemble has also established Taiwan, Beijing and Shanghai subgroups to further its musical exchanges and reach out to wider audience.

In 2019, Wuji Ensemble presented Boundless Groove, its first foray into jazz, using a fusion of Chinese and Western instruments and styles. The production was staged again at the inaugural Freespace Jazz Fest in the same year. Its latest project, Boundless Groove—Recurrence was streamed online in January 2021.

Law Wing-fai

Artistic Director / Composer

A veteran composer in Hong Kong, Law Wing-fai is one of the few who engages himself in interdisciplinary fields. Previously the Composer-in-Residence at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Law is currently the Artistic Director of Wuji Ensemble.

After graduating from the University of California and returning to Hong Kong, Law has been ceaselessly scoring for dance performances, theatre plays, advertisements, and more than 30 feature films.

Law was the founding Head of Composition of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and has held the position for many years. In 1995, he was invited again as Visiting Scholar by Stanford University, where he gave lectures and composed music. On returning to Hong Kong, he released a number of pieces featuring a brand new fashion of Chinese-Western mixed instrumentation. In 2003, he founded the distinctively stylish Wuji Ensemble.

Wong Chi-ching

Music Director / Pipa

Wong Chi-ching joined the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra and afterwards the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, serving as the head of plucked string section and lead pipa player. For years, she has collaborated, as a pipa soloist, with a variety of noted ensembles over the world for live gigs and personal music records. For instances, Wong conducted a monthly concert of soulful music series at the Companion Theatre in Beijing in a drive to launch Chinese music culture into the direction of atmospheric musical theatre. In Hong Kong, she has held a multitude of solo recitals. Working with various media for interdisciplinary productions, Wong managed to perform more than 10 pieces of modern pipa solo. In 2003, Wong established the Wuji Ensemble and currently serves as its Music Director.