When Wilson Ng took the podium to lead the newly formed Asian Modern Symphony Orchestra (AMSO) in Hong Kong end of July, it marked the culmination of years of reflection, professional encounters, and a deep desire to reshape the place of Asian composers in the global music scene. In this in-depth conversation, Wilson outlined the origins of the orchestra, his formative experiences in Europe, and his vision for promoting music from Asia on the world stage.
Wilson traces the AMSO’s beginnings to his long-standing collaboration with Professor Ye Xiaogang, one of China’s most prominent composers. In 2018, Ye invited Wilson to conduct his works for the first time. “After that, he gave me many opportunities on the mainland,” Wilson recalled. “I was exposed to a wide range of modern music, particularly works by Asian composers, which are not widely known—especially in Hong Kong, where dedicated modern music concerts are still rare.”
Ye’s influence was more than personal. As Artistic Director of the Beijing Modern Music Festival (BMMF) and Chancellor of the Shenzhen Conservatory of Music (affiliated to the Chinese University of Hong Kong), Ye is directly involved in programming contemporary music concerts, commissioning new works, and hosting portrait concerts of living composers. This environment of sustained, high-level exposure to modern repertoire left a lasting mark on Wilson’s own programming philosophy.
At the same time, Wilson’s education in Europe shaped his thinking about cultural ownership and identity in classical music. He studied in France and other parts of Europe, learning French to a high level—more fluently than Mandarin—because, as he put it, “I knew I needed to perform European music by French, German, Italian composers. I worked hard to understand European culture, language, and history.”
Yet, despite his efforts, he found it was still easy for others to dismiss Asian musicians as outsiders to Western classical music. “They say: ‘You are Asian. You don’t understand our culture. We own Western classical music.’ You can’t change where the music came from centuries ago. But I started asking: is there anything I can change?”
His answer lay in promoting music from Asia. he pointed to Western conductors who immerse themselves in Asian culture to perform works by Toru Takemitsu or Isang Yun. “If we have Asian musicians, we have more options to introduce our own music,” he said. “If we succeed, we’re creating a new world in the universe of classical music. Then it would be hard for anyone to claim that Europe still ‘owns’ it—it becomes a truly global language.”
His commitment to this mission deepened after taking a position with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. There, he observed how Dutch composers benefit from strong public funding and regular premieres. “If they don’t support their own composers, who will?” he noted. This model reinforced his determination to champion Asian composers.
For him, building an orchestra was not only about commissioning new works, but also about reviving and sustaining existing ones. “Premieres are fine, but what happens to the work after the premiere night?” he asked. He believes orchestras have a responsibility to perform fine works repeatedly, giving them a life beyond their debut.
This philosophy shaped AMSO’s programming from the outset. At its recent Hong Kong concerts, Wilson conducted Towards the Superior, a work by Hong Kong composer So Ting-cheong, for the second time—two years after he first performed it with the Hong Kong String Orchestra. “Few people know the piece, or the composer,” he said. “But I’m a doer. I want to make sure these works are heard again.”
The founding of the AMSO, he stressed, was the result of “many factors coming together”—his artistic partnership with Ye Xiaogang, his immersion in European culture, his awareness of the gaps in Hong Kong’s musical landscape, and his professional exposure to institutional models that prioritise homegrown talent.
He envisions AMSO as a platform where Asian composers’ works stand alongside established Western repertoire, not as a novelty, but as part of the canon. By doing so, he hopes to change perceptions both in Asia and abroad. “It’s about having our own territory within classical music,” he said. “When Asian composers and musicians contribute works of lasting value, classical music truly belongs to the world.”
As the orchestra grows, he intends to balance its mission between nurturing new creations and sustaining a repertoire of proven Asian works. In his view, this dual approach is essential if Asian music is to gain a foothold comparable to that of Western traditions.
The Asian Modern Symphony Orchestra’s debut season has already drawn attention from audiences and media across Hong Kong, mainland China, and internationally. For Wilson, that visibility is a first step toward a more ambitious goal: making Asian compositions an integral, enduring part of the global symphonic conversation.
As he reflected on his journey, he returned to the blend of influences that shaped him—Ye Xiaogang’s mentorship, his own European education, and the examples of orchestras that champion their national composers. Together, they have fuelled his resolve to create an ensemble that not only plays Western masterworks with authority, but also opens space for Asian voices to be heard, remembered, and celebrated.
“Ultimately,” Wilson concluded, “this is about contributing something of our own to the shared language of classical music. If we can do that, no one can say it belongs to Europe alone.”
This is a Mandarin programme with Chinese and English subtitles
