Recorded Live Concert at Knox with Royce Rich and Eric Wong

About the Concert

     KnoxVan Events is thrilled to bring this autumn styled concert to the community. Royce Rich joined us previously for our virtual concert offerings during the height of the pandemic and now he is returning for a live concert with pianist Eric Wong. Read below for more information on performers Royce Rich and Eric Wong as well as further below for their planned concert line up.

Royce Rich, Violin –

     Twenty-four-year-old violinist, Royce Rich, is establishing himself as one of Canada’s up-and-coming classical music artists. In July 2021, he was listed as one of CBC Music’s top “30 Under 30 Hot Classical Musicians” for the release of his debut studio album entitled Short Stories. Royce has appeared on concert stages as a solo artist and chamber musician across Canada, the USA, Italy, and Germany. He has performed as guest artist with the Brampton Symphony Orchestra, Lions Gate Sinfonia Orchestra, Durham Chamber Orchestra, Smazal Chamber Orchestra, and twice with the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra. 

     In March of 2021, Royce was thrilled to have self-produced and released his debut album entitled Short Stories – a collectionof beloved encore pieces with pianist, Jeanie Chung. Short Stories the albumis currently available to stream and download on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and Amazon Music.

     He has performed solo recitals and chamber music recitals for such concerts series across Vancouver and Toronto as Silk Purse Concerts, Arts at One hosted by Douglas College, The Jewish Community Centre, Music Friends Concerts, Newmann Production, Concerts @ 100, St. Andrew’s Noon Hour, KnoxVan Events, Clearly Musical Home Concerts, among other concert series.

         Royce completed his formal post-secondary classical music training at The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he obtained his Bachelors of Music Degree, as well as completed one full year in the conservatory’s Artist Diploma Program as a full-scholarship recipient of The Jack Whiteside Scholarship. Royce started taking violin lessons and performing at the age of five years old – he has studied with some of North America’s leading violin pedagogues, namely, with Victor Danchenko, Martina Smazal, Taras Gabora, and Mayumi Seiler. Aside from keeping a busy performance, Royce enjoys residing in Vancouver with a love for running, hiking, cycling, swimming, cooking, and getting together with friends over coffee and baking. He also enjoys mysticism, and the artistic / musical genre of retro-wave and dream-wave. Royce can be followed online via his Instagram page @roycerichmusical.

Eric Wong, Piano –

     Eric Wong is an active pianist with notable recent appearances at the Vancouver Symphony Day of Music (2022, 2021, 2019), BC Government House (2019) and the Chan Centre (2017). He is also the co-founder and director of the house concert series Music Friends, which produced over 100 intimate performances by top guest artists in the Vancouver area from 2017 to 2020.

     Eric first started learning piano in his childhood, and pursued a degree and career in computer science before deciding to return to music. Eric is deeply passionate about chamber music and art song, having been mentored by influential pianists Scott Meek and Rena Sharon, both of whom are renowned collaborative artists.

     His collaborative partners have included CBC 30 Under 30 musicians Cameron Crozman (cello) and Boson Mo (violin), as well as outgoing UBC President Santa Ono, who is a talented amateur cellist. He also led Music Friends’ first outreach concert outside of Canada in 2019, performing with local musicians in the city of Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, China.

     Other organizations he has performed for include Burnaby Lyric Opera, the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, and the Nanaimo Chinese Cultural Society.