Artistic Director
Jimmy Chiang – Kapellmeister
Jimmy Chiang is the Kapellmeister of the famed Vienna Boys Choir since 2013, the first Hong Kong born conductor ever appointed to this position. Being a choral, operatic and symphonic conductor, he tours intensively and performs at many prestigious concert halls and festivals around the world including The Musikverein in Vienna, Carnegie Hall, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and FÀCYL in Spain.
His music career began in Hong Kong at the age of thirteen when he first appeared as a concert pianist. In 2007 he became the First Prize Winner of the prestigious International Competition of Young Conductors Lovro von Matačić. From 2007 to 2009 he held the post of Assistant Music Director of Wagner’s The Ring Cycle at Theater Lübeck. He then became Principal Conductor at Theater Freiburg where he directed numerous operatic productions between 2009 and 2011 including Le Grand Macabre, Tosca, Un ballo in Maschera and Orpheus in the Underworld. During the same period he was featured in a cover article for the opera magazine Orpheus. In 2016 he became the Artistic Director of the Hong Kong–Vienna Music Festival for which he is a co-founder of and debuting in a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.8.
Jimmy Chiang was born into a musical family and began piano lessons when he was four. He also studied cello and composition. He holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Baylor University in the USA and a Master of Arts with distinction from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. His mentors include Seiji Ozawa, Leopold Hager, Erwin Ortner, Krassimira Jordan, Wolfgang Watzinger and Dr. Yip Wai-hong.