Young Musician of the Year 2008 Grand Prize Winner

Natalie joined the Tom Lee Hong Kong Youth NeoWinds Orchestra in September 2004. She is currently the Principal Clarinet of the Junior Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Natalie is 15 years old and started playing piano when she was 4. She began learning clarinet with Maria Wong at the age of 6; and in the past few years she has also studied with Hong Kong Philharmonic clarinettists Andrew Simon and John Schertle as well as with the Colburn School master teacher Yehuda Gilad.  Natalie was accepted by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts as a junior clarinet student in September 2002 and was awarded a full merit scholarship in September 2006. In 2005, Natalie attained her ATCL Diploma in Clarinet with Distinction and ABRSM Grade 8 with Merit in Piano. In July 2008, Natalie attended the 14th Hamamatsu International Wind Instruments Academy and Festival and was tutored by Wenzel Fuchs, Principal Clarinet of Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

In the 2006 Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, Natalie won first prize in both Woodwind Concerto Class and Secondary School Senior Clarinet Solo Class and third prize in Wind Concerto Class. In the Summer of 2006, Natalie received an Honorable Mention in the International Clarinet Association Competition 2006 High School Division at Atlanta, USA and subsequently won the second prize in 2007 at Vancouver, Canada. In 2008, Natalie won the first prize in Winds Open Class and in the Grand Final she performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and won the Grand Title of the “Young Musician of the Year 2008”