Chris Hardy (Clarinet) and Hector Leung (Piano)’s WACIDOM Concert
Carl Maria von Weber Concertino for Clarinet
Charles Oberthur Le Desir Nocturne, Opus 65
Piano solo Nikolai Kapustin No.5 Prelude in D major and
No.13 Prelude in G-flat major from
“24 Preludes”
Joseph Horovitz Sonatina for clarinet and piano
- Allegro calmato
- Lento quasi andante
- Con brio
Biographies
Chris Hardy is a vibrant clarinetist with a love for performing solo, chamber and orchestral repertoire. He graduated with a first class honours degree from the Royal Northern College of Music in 2022, and a masters with distinction from the same institution in 2024. He performs as an extra player with professional orchestras across the UK including the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé, Royal Northern Sinfonia, and The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. He is an experienced pit musician, having performed alongside members of Opera North and in musical productions across the UK. Also an avid chamber musician, Chris enjoys playing a range of classical and contemporary repertoire with numerous chamber ensembles, one of which recently won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Henderson Prize in 2022 and have just released their debut album, recorded at the Stoller Hall. As a soloist, Chris is a regular recitalist, performing worldwide onboard cruise voyages, and recently performed Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with the Hallé Orchestra at the Bridgewater Hall.
Pianist Hector Leung graduated at the Royal Northern College of Music and obtained his Masters in Music (majoring solo piano performance) and FRSM Diploma with distinctions. His main piano tutors were Dina Parakhina and Colin Stone. Having won best accompanist prizes for two song cycle competitions in 2015, both during the first term of his MMus studies, Hector was then nominated one of the RNCM Songsters pianists, and collaborated closely with the School of Vocal Studies and Opera.
Hector embarked on a much more intensive and fruitful chamber music journey from 2019 to 2021. He was awarded, for two years, to undertake a piano accompanist role as a Junior Fellow, and worked exclusively with rising young musicians and their distinguished faculty tutors on a day-to-day basis.
In 2017, Hector was featured in the RNCM annual commissioned composer series at London Wigmore Hall where he joined with oboist George Strickland to perform ‘Forgotten Games 2’ by British composer Tansy Davies. Around that time, he also played quite substantial piano parts for numerous RNCM concerts: highlights include “Contraflow (1992)” by Sir Colin Matthews; Symphony No.5 by Sergei Prokofiev; and West Side Story (fully-staged original, with RNCM Young Company) by Leonard Bernstein.
Currently sitting Principal Keyboard at the Manchester Northern Film Orchestra, Hector premiered and recorded the solo piano edition of the choral piece ‘I Walked into the Darkness and Emerged from the Light’ by American film music composer Shaun Drew.
Amongst Hector’s very early achievements are his winning first prize at the Hong Kong International Pianist Association piano competition (HKIPA) in 2013 and a number of youth piano competitions within the same period.
Hector is on a new mission to create his own compositions to further his studies and to extend his concert repertoire.