The award of Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts is presented to Edo de Waart in recognition of his contribution to the development of music internationally.

Edo de Waart came to live in Hong Kong last ear, after accepting the position of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

Having been associate Principal Oboe of the Concertgebouw at the age of 21, after winning the Dimitri Mitropoulos Conducting Competition in New York at 23, he became Assistant Conductor to Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic.  Edo de Waart’s career has spanned four continents – Assistant Conductor of the Concertgebouw, Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, Principal Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, Music Director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

Edo de Waart commands the natural respect of the musicians he works with for his deep musical integrity and understanding of the core repertoire of European symphonic music, but he is also a champion of living composers, and of continuing the life of symphony orchestras into the 21^st century by bringing new works into the standard repertoire,  His commitment to developing future generations of musicians in our community was apparent on his arrival in Hong Kong, when he proposed a joint concert of John Adam’s music, with students of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts performing with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra at the Cultural Center.

The Academy pays tribute to Edo de Waart for his distinguished service and outstanding achievements in the field of music.