Au Tin-yung, Alex was born in Hong Kong. He is an active composer, jazz pianist, producer and promoter of contemporary music. His works have been widely performed in different places such as the United States, China, Ireland, Taiwan, Italy, France, Sweden and the U.K. Au’s works often explore the potential of the audible sonic spectrum by integrating computer technology with contemporary compositions, creating interesting timbre based on traditional instruments. His work “Dao” has been selected as one of the three finalists in Duosolo Emerging Composer Competition in 2011 (Cortona, Italy). Musicians that performed Au’s music include Kreutzer String Quartet, Concorde Contemporary Music Ensemble, Juilliard String Quartet, Aoife Ni Bhriain, Judith Ring, Paul Roe, Martin Johnson and Sarah Watts, etc. 

 

Au is the founder and music director of Avant Music Group Association of Hong Kong (AMGA) established since 2011. It is a non-profit association aimed at promoting contemporary compositions as well as creating an exchange platform for composers and musicians. Projects include Avant Music Night (2015) – a concert features a number of York composers; Marco Ramelli’s Guitar Masterclass (2018) – contemporary guitar techniques; Dr. David Mooney’s Piano Masterclass (2018) and Avant Music Night (2019) – a concert features new music from Hong Kong and Ireland. Musicians and composers who have collaborated with us include Mr. Marco Ramelli, Dr. David Mooney, Dr. Cheung Pui-shan, Miss Aoife Ni Bhriain, Miss Judith Ring, Prof. Thomas Simaku, Dr. David Lancaster, and the Concorde Contemporary Music Ensemble, etc.

 

Besides being a composer, Au is an enthusiastic jazz pianist. He met one of his mentors, John Taylor, when he studied in York. Au has also worked with a wide range of top musicians including Lonnie Williams, Ted Lo, Kazuo Takeda, Iain Ballamy and Julian Arguelles, etc and also performed in several International Jazz Festivals (Hong Kong International Jazz Festival 2009 & 2011 and Beishan International Jazz Festival 2011). Furthermore, he start producing and hosting an educational Piano Jazz program on YouTube since 2017, interviewing local jazz musicians, which is similar to the format of Marian MacPartland's Piano Jazz Program at NPR. 

 

Since 2007, Alex has set up a music production house (PMW Works) in Hong Kong as a music producer. He produces and arranges music for musicals (The Hands of Time 2009), films, commercial advertisements, jingles and the local pop music industry (Joey Yung, Jun Kung etc.). 

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Au received his Ph.D. in music composition at the University of Hong Kong with support from the University Postgraduate Studentship. His Ph.D. dissertation focuses on audio signal analysis and processing in music composition. This research involves the exploration of digital audio processing, sound synthesis, and spectral analysis of sounds in music composition. Au also received his Master’s Degree (Distinction) in Composition and a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of York, and Kingston University respectively. In 2017, he studied computer music at IRCAM under the guidance of Mikhail Malt. He was the guest lecturer at The Education University of Hong Kong (Department of Cultural and Creative Arts), The Hong Kong Metropolitan University (Department of Creative Arts). Au is currently a lecturer at Hong Kong Design Institute (Department of Digital Music and Media), and is also a council member of Hong Kong Composers' Guild (HKCG).