Artistic DirectorS
Joan Blackman
Artistic Director
Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Vetta Chamber Music Society, Ms. Blackman enjoys a vibrant and varied musical life. She served as Associate Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony for many years and has performed and recorded as soloist with the Vancouver Symphony, Victoria Symphony, CBC Radio Orchestra, Turning Point Ensemble and the Banff Festival Orchestra. She also teaches privately and has given masterclasses throughout B.C.
Ms. Blackman is known throughout Canada and the U.S. as a fine chamber musician and has performed with premier groups such as the Penderecki String Quartet, the Purcell String Quartet and the Gryphon Trio. Besides performing and curating the Vetta Chamber Music series in Vancouver, she works with the Canadian Music Centre in their Celebration concert series. Joan is also a member of the Sea and Sky collective which has released two CDs and performs throughout B.C.
Joan has appeared on numerous series including Music in the Morning, Music Fest Vancouver, the Jeffrey Concerts in London, Ont., and the American String Project. She has also appeared at summer festivals including the Hornby Island Festival, the Pender Harbour Chamber Music Festival, Kaimerata, and the Victoria Summer Music Festival.
“Your heart would need to be made of stone not to have loved Joan Blackman’s splendid solo “. “Shapelier phrases and sweeter tone would be hard to imagine”, “a ravishing tone”, “first rate soloist”, “exchanged lines meltingly in a flawless performance” “playing with lyricism, precision, and evident joy”, are some of the accolades that have graced Joan’s reviews.
Hung-Wei Huang
Artistic Director Associate
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, violist Hung-Wei Huang joined the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as Principal Viola in February 2021. In 2002 Mr. Huang became the youngest-ever principal viola of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, going on to play with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He has served as guest principal viola of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mr. Huang has performed chamber musicat Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall and the Kennedy Center and at the Marlboro, Santa Fe, and Great Mountain Festivals. He has collaborated with Joshua Bell, Myung-Wha Chung, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Anne-SophieMutter, Paula Robison and Mitsuko Uchida, as well as members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, and Orion string quartets.
Hung-Wei Huang began music lessons at the age of seven with Lin Chia-Zong, and continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Julliard School, and the Mannes School of Music.
Mr. Huang served as guest professor of viola and chamber music at the Korea National University of Arts, and his students are members of professional orchestras around the world.