Dr. Michelle Kwok is a conductor and music educator from Hong Kong. She was named the 2nd runner-up of the 2024 American Prize in Conducting: The Dale Warland Award, and has led performances in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Some recent conducting engagements include Haydn’s The Creation, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, and Bach’s Jesu, meine Freude. An advocate for contemporary choral music, Kwok has premiered works by living composers, including Daniel Cui’s Jasmine Flower, Thejas Mirle’s A Sighing Mist, Jin Cheng-zhi’s Farewell (Cantonese Version), and Elby Kwok’s Reborn.
Kwok is a recent recipient of the Westminster Choir College Performing Arts Merit Award and was twice awarded the Talent Development Scholarship (Music and Performing Arts). She was previously the Director and Assistant Conductor of Indiana University’s University Chorale, NOTUS, University Singers, Pro Cantare, Westminster Schola Cantorum and Chapel Choir, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Student Union Choir, and The Chinese University of Hong Kong Christian Choir. Beyond the concert stage, Kwok has served as the Chorus Master of Nutcracker, Assistant Chorus Master for operas Carmen, Don Giovanni, Ainadamar, and Die lustige Witwe. During her time in Hong Kong, she co-founded the award-winning community choir, Fluente Chorus. Kwok is an active adjudicator and clinician. Her research on Cantonese choral music was published in the Choral Journal by the American Choral Directors Association and has informed performances in the United States and Canada. Her performances of various Cantonese choral works with Fluente Chorus are available on major streaming platforms.
Kwok received her Doctor of Music in Choral Conducting from Indiana University, and degrees from Westminster Choir College (with Distinction) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She has studied conducting with Simon Carrington, James Jordan, and Chris Albanese, among other distinguished mentors. She was a conducting fellow at the Taipei International Choral Festival and Sarteano Choral Workshop. A classically trained singer, she studied voice with Judith Malafronte, Victoria Browers, and Caleb Woo. Kwok holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Music Education from CUHK, LRSM, and DipABRSM (Distinction) in Voice. She currently serves as the Artistic Director of the Williamsburg Choral Guild, and a Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor & Associate Director of Choirs at The College of William & Mary.
