Biography 

Adrian Hon-wai Poon was born in Hong Kong, he started to learn the clarinet at the age of 10. He has won numerous awards at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival and the Toyama Asian Youth Music Competition. In 1999, he became a member of the Hong Kong Symphonic Winds performing regularly in Hong Kong, Macau and China.

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He earned his Bachelor of Music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) in 2009 studying the Clarinet, E-flat clarinet and the Bass Clarinet respectively with Andrew Simon, Principal Clarinet of Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, John Schertle and Michael Campbell. During this time, he has received masterclasses by Andrew Marriner, Michael Collins, Michel Lethiec, Romain Guyot. He has also worked with conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Francois Xaiver Roth, Edward Gardner and Okko Kamu. 

 

Being fond of concert band and orchestral playing, he performed with the Hong Kong Wind Philhamronia at the 12th WASBE International Conference (2005) in Singapore and toured around China and Japan with the Asian Youth Orchestra in 2007. He has been a freelance player in some of the professional orchestras like Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Macao Orchestra since 2007. ​

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In 2010, Adrian continued his studies at the Royal College of Music  (RCM) in London, studying the clarinet with Janet Hilton and Timothy Lines, supported by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund and the RCM Scholarship. He completed his Master of Performance (MPerf) with Distinction in 2012. He participated in the Concerto Competition in 2011 and the St. Martin’s Chamber Music Competition 2012. He was the winner of Ensemble with Piano Chamber Competition at the RCM in 2012. After graduating, he continued to give solo recitals and chamber music concerts in London and Europe including the Young Virtuosi Festival 2012 in southern France.

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​He is keen to collaborate with young composers for their world premiere concerts and recordings. He is now working as a freelance musician and music tutor in London.