Bio

Known for his sensitivity and artistry, Anthony Poon is an acclaimed violinist who actively performs as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral leader. Currently pursuing a Master of Music at The Juilliard School under the guidance of Ronald Copes, Anthony previously earned both his Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and Master of Arts from the Royal Academy of Music in London, studying with Jack Liebeck.

As a soloist, Anthony has showcased his musical voice with distinguished ensembles, including performances of Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Brahms’ Violin Concerto with the Stamford Chamber Orchestra. His accolades include 2nd Prize at the Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist Competition, an Honourable Mention at the Musicus Young Artist Audition in Hong Kong, and recognition as a Winner of the Tunnell Trust for Young Musicians Award.

Anthony’s passion for chamber music has taken him to renowned festivals such as the BigLake Chamber Music Festival, Musicus Chamberfest, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Harmos Chamber Music Festival, Lerici Music Festival, Juilliard Chamberfest, and Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival. He has performed with the award-winning Kirkman Quartet—winners of the St Peter’s Prize—and toured Scotland with the Perseus Duo, presenting six concerts in six towns across the country.

In the orchestral sphere, Anthony held the tenure position of Sub-Principal Second Violin with the Royal Northern Sinfonia from 2023 to 2024. He has also appeared as Guest Principal with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Manchester Camerata. His leadership experience includes leading the Manchester Camerata and the Piccadilly Sinfonietta. During his studies, he served as Concertmaster of both the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra and the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra.

Teaching Info

I could never forget the moment when I had the teacher that has inspired me so much and therefore started my journey to pursue a career in music as a musician. I remember very well he would always say I have great facilities but where is the music? From then I have always been finding possibilities to express myself the way I feel strongly about. The mechanics of the violin playing is of course important, but the paramount of all would be to explore and express yourself through music, and this had built a concrete step in my teaching philosophy.

I want to continue what my teacher had done to me, to inspire students who come to me and being able to appreciate music and the art of violin playing. With my students, it’s very important to not introduce what is right or wrong, sometimes in executing a particular passage to encourage them to modify their way of playing rather than saying that’s not the way, and explore different components of what can be modified thus guiding them to execute the passage with a beautiful and imaginative sound they can envision. I feel with this sort of teaching, I can see from my students’ eyes of their satisfaction of finding the answer themselves with my help, much more so when I just tell them exactly what to do. This sort of teaching also has a much longer retaining period in their mind since they are learning how to get to the solution rather than being spoon-fed.

Regarding technique, I encourage the students to execute passages without thinking too much of the technique and see what’s the natural instincts are, very often linking to their everyday activities, something that are instinctive. By linking specific movements of their everyday life to violin playing, students are forming an image that violin is not rocket science but just a refined skills from our daily life. This would be the starting point to encourage students to think how our natural physical movements are vital to give the life of the music rather than a technical work. When the level is getting more advanced, I will still try to form those links and offer some tips about how the body is doing to support specific techniques.

Music playing is to tell a story! To bring notes on the page alive, we need to put emotions, story, feelings into the music we are performing. With my students, through their exploration of how to utilize their body to play their instrument, I would also encourage them to think about the emotions of the music with their own experiences. For younger students it could be as simple as happy or sad, and older students slightly more intricate emotions. But by instilling emotions and feelings, this sparks more possibilities of exploration, making violin an interesting activity.