Francis Wan

Known as the uprising star in the world of classical guitar, Francis Wan encountered the instrument at the age of thirteen. In just over a year, Francis started to show great promises in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, most impressively having won five first prize titles in various classes of guitar performance for three consecutive years, and immediately started his performing career. After graduating from high school, with enthusiasm for music, Francis traveled to Europe to study with several world-renowned guitar virtuosi, including John Williams, Pepe Romero, Alvaro Pierri and the Hubert Kappel and so forth. Upon returning to Hong Kong, Francis was accepted by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts immediately Diploma student in the School of Music, majoring in guitar performance under the guidance of Tina K. Lo. He was then awarded a full scholarship, due to his outstanding performance, to finish his studies in the honorary program of Bachelor of Music. Francis also holds a number of music performance qualifications, including the Licentiate of Royal Schools of Music (LRSM).

Francis Wan has been an active performer ever since he played as one of the first guitarists in the Hong Kong Guitar Orchestra. Other than regularly being invited to perform as soloist, Francis also often partner with other local musicians in performances that are mostly sponsored by charities. His interpretation of music is not constrained by his musical background, which allows him to speak with his deep sense of musicality and a delicate tone that expresses great emotions through his wide repertoire, ranging from traditional classical music to accessible pop music. In 2010, Francis took the first step towards becoming an international performer. He teamed up with musicians from Japan and Ukraine and formed the touring group the Piazzolla Quintet with a focus on exploring the language of South American music. Later in the year, he performed alongside the popular Japanese “fingerstyle” guitar virtuoso Masaaki Kishibe, the well-known Taiwanese contemporary guitarist Huang Jiawei, and local performing guitarist Jacky Lau, in the concert “Nylon & Steel”, and received great response.

In addition to his performance career, Francis also involves in audio recording, song editing, film music recording and accompanying at live pop concerts. Francis also hosts master classes and lectures for different organizations to contribute in promoting guitar music. His first album, Opus One, was released on April 2012.