Artist profile
An in-demand musician in North America who is based in New York City, Fung Chern Hwei is an acclaimed violinist, violist, composer and arranger. He is the current member of Sirius Quartet, a string quartet that focuses on performing self composed music and improvisation, and Seven)Suns, which performs extreme music rooted in the language of avant-metal and hardcore rock music.
Originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Chern Hwei earned his Bachelor of Music Performance at the University Putra Malaysia under the guidance of Kjell-Arne Jørgensen and received his Master of Violin Performance in Aaron Copland School of Music at CUNY Queens College, New York City, under Daniel Phillips.
Other than performing highly creative and original music, Chern Hwei is a highly seasoned recording artist and sideman who has performed and/or recorded with Hiromi, Tyshawn Sorey , Linda May Han Oh, Uri Caine, Pedro Giraudo, Camila Meza (guitarist/vocalist/songwriter), Paquito d'Rivera, Stanley Clarke, math core legend The Dillinger Escape Plan, Malaysian mandopop singers Penny Tai and Nicholas Teo, the celebrated Malaysian rock trio Tempered Mental and many more.
He has been touring extensively, which brought him to four continents—North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. He has performed in Taichung Jazz Festival (Taiwan), Beijing Music Festival (China), Tianjin International Jazz Festival (China), Newport Jazz Festival, Ojai Music Festival (USA), Theaterhaus Stuttgart Festival (Germany), Spring Scream (Taiwan), Soundbridge New Music Festival (Malaysia), among others. The great concert halls that he has had the pleasure to perform at include Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall (NYC), Walt Disney Concert Hall (LA), Beethovenhaus Kammermusiksaal, Liederhalle (Germany), Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (Malaysia), Sapporo Concert Hall, Suntory Hall (Japan) and many more.
Education wise, Chern Hwei believes in the social functionality of music and forward-thinking mentality of a musician playing key roles in successful music-making, and he is passionate in sharing that philosophy with young musicians. He has given workshops and masterclasses on improvisation in higher music institutions such as the Lübeck Academy of Music, University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, University of Music, Performing Arts and Media Hanover, State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, University of Maryland School of Music, Taiwan National Chiao Tung University, Beijing Contemporary Music Academy, etc.
As a film composer, he has provided the score for Malaysian director Ho Yuhang's art-house action feature film, "Mrs. K", as part of the violin-theremin duo, FUGU (with Malaysian thereminist, Ng Chor Guan). He is also the composer of the yet unreleased documentary feature, “Rocky Flats” (dir. by Nancy Wolfe). Chern Hwei recently finished new album with Seven)Suns, and is currently working on the score for director Badrul Hisham Ismail’s debut feature film.