For more than 15 years, Intimacy of Creativity (IC), founded by HKUST, has challenged the traditional boundaries of music-making by bringing emerging composers and world-class musicians into a shared space for in-depth, collaborative creation.
Presented by the HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), the 2026 Season continued this bold tradition under the leadership of world-renowned composer Prof. Bright SHENG, the IC founder and Artistic Director, and the IAS Helmut & Anna Pao Sohmen Professor-at-Large at HKUST.
Hosting intensive rehearsals and open discussions at HKUST from June 2 to 7, this year’s event welcomed an extraordinary lineup of international talent, including the award-winning young cellist LiLa and the Stauffer String Ensemble from Accademia Stauffer in Cremona, Italy.
“It was a great honor to work with the talented young musicians of the Stauffer String Ensemble. These gifted artists carry forward the illustrious spirit of Cremona’s string-instrument-making tradition—Stradivari and Guarneri, to name only two—and transform it into the beautiful, profound sound of their performances. ”
——Prof. Bright Sheng
Selected from a global call-for-scores, three exceptional Composer Fellows, between the ages of 20 and 35, brought their works to this vibrant musical forum this year. Through close engagement and “try-outs” with the IC 2026 community, their musical concepts were refined through real-time feedback and an exchange of ideas.
Composer Fellow 1: Harry GONZÁLEZ from Colombia
Commissioned by the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra, Harry González’s string quintet, ¿Habrá Futuro? (Will there be a future?), explores people’s unsettled lives since the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic crises.
Harry translates feelings of uncertainty through dissonances and dense sonorities, while a hopeful theme, carried by the viola, seeks to produce a positive outcome.
Through discussions with Prof. Bright Sheng, the performers, and the audience, Harry gained particularly useful insights into how the piece could be improved from their perspectives.
“In response, I extended the climax towards the end to bring more satisfaction to a heavily dissonant and emotional piece, while adjusting the dynamics and tempos to highlight important moments,” he noted.
“As a composer, I always need to be open to the performers’ responses to my music and feedback from the listeners, and to look at my music not as a finished product but as a malleable piece of art that can be shaped according to the circumstances and the people I am working with.”
——Harry González
Composer Fellow 2: Yuval MEDINA from US / Israel
For Yuval Medina, who lives in New York while his family resides in Tel Aviv, his string quartet composition Together Again focuses on a deeply personal narrative of yearning and belonging amidst geopolitical tension and separation.
“I wrote this piece to capture the feeling of coming home and having dinner with grandparents, which is the bittersweet emotion conjured when I think about my family. The happiness it brings is just out of reach,” Yuval shared with the audience.
Through this piece, he channels a deep longing for global unity, believing that music can remind us that the world is ultimately one big family and that we all share the same human emotions.
Yuval undertook a major overhaul of the piece and even rewrote the parts that he was most attached to. “Having performers’ comments on the composition—the flow, pacing, and structure—is a rare opportunity for us composers,” he said. “All elements from my original piece are still there, but the entire structure has significantly changed to flow more like a real story.”
“The most important thing a piece needs to do is tell a story; the lessons I learned from Prof. Sheng, and from the performers, taught me so much about this craft of shaping a beautiful story through music.”
—— Yuval Medina
Composer Fellow 3: Arthur YUEN from Hong Kong
Bringing a distinct xieyi (freehand brushwork) aesthetic to the stage, Arthur Yuen presented his first string quartet, Images from my Consciousness. It is structured in movements that musicalize the poetic imagery drawn from fragments of his memory.
For Arthur, the collaborative environment sparked invaluable artistic growth and inspired him to complete a second major revision of the work. The scattered fragments evolve into motivic gestures and subtly integrate to evoke a sense of cultural association.
“The open discussions were exciting and unforgettable, allowing me to get deep into the musicians’ minds,” Arthur reflected, “I have been challenged to step further out of my comfort zone than ever before. Such an impactful experience will undoubtedly stay with me and contribute positively to my artistic voice and future career.”
“Do not be afraid of taking risks. It is through reworking a piece — even drastically — that you gain new perspectives on your music, and that is what transforms you as a composer.”
—— Arthur Yuen
The fine-tuned final versions, shaped by the collective wisdom of the IC 2026 community, found their reinterpretation and lasting resonance. The compositions were formally presented at a preview on June 8 at the Shaw Auditorium, HKUST, and at the World Premiere Concert on June 10 at Hong Kong City Hall.
Reflecting on the event’s success, Prof. Sheng said: “The past ten days have been both a demonstration and a culmination of the IC premise: by being deeply involved in the creation of a new work, performers feel a genuine sense of ownership over the compositions, while the composers come to understand the importance of knowing their every gesture, instinct, and nuance.”
As a forward-looking institution with a visionary dedication to arts education, HKUST remains committed to supporting young creators and serving as a unique cradle where artistic creation thrives in a more intimate and lively way.
