Artist profile
An in-demand musician residing in New York City, Malaysian-born Fung Chern Hwei is an acclaimed violinist, violist, composer and arranger. He is the current member of Sirius Quartet, a string quartet that focuses on performing self composed music and improvisation, and Seven)Suns, which performs extreme music rooted in the language of avant-metal and hardcore rock music.
Other than performing highly creative and original music, Chern Hwei is a highly seasoned recording artist and side person who has performed and/or recorded with Hiromi, Tyshawn Sorey, Linda May Han Oh, Uri Caine, Pedro Giraudo, Camila Meza (guitarist/vocalist/songwriter), Paquito d'Rivera, Stanley Clarke, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Sigur Ros, mandopop singers Penny Tai and Nicholas Teo, the celebrated Malaysian rock trio Tempered Mental and many more.
He has been touring extensively, which brought him to four continents—North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. He has performed in Taichung Jazz Festival (Taiwan), Beijing Music Festival (China), Tianjin International Jazz Festival (China), Newport Jazz Festival, Ojai Music Festival (USA), Theaterhaus Stuttgart Festival (Germany), Spring Scream (Taiwan), Soundbridge New Music Festival (Malaysia), and in great concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall (NYC), Walt Disney Concert Hall (LA), Beethovenhaus Kammermusiksaal, Liederhalle (Germany), Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (Malaysia), Sapporo Concert Hall, Suntory Hall (Japan) and many more.
As an educator, Chern Hwei believes in the social functionality of music and forward-thinking mentality of a musician playing key roles in successful music-making, and he is passionate in sharing that philosophy with young musicians. Other than teaching private lessons, he has given workshops and masterclasses on improvisation in higher music institutions such as the Lübeck Academy of Music, University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, University of Music, Performing Arts and Media Hanover, State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, University of Maryland School of Music, Taiwan National Chiao Tung University, Beijing Contemporary Music Academy, etc.
As a film composer, he has provided the score for Malaysian director Ho Yuhang's art-house action feature film, "Mrs. K", as part of the violin-theremin duo, FUGU (with Malaysian thereminist, Ng Chor Guan). He is also the composer of Malaysian director Badrul Hisham Ismail’s debut feature, “Maryam Pagi ke Malam”. Chern Hwei is currently working on a new album with Seven)Suns, while anticipating the debut release of his chordless trio, Fungal Bloom.