Phoon Sook Peng was born in Penang, Malaysia. She studied in Trinity College of Music, London in 1982 under Ms. Elizabeth Hawes, and obtained her certificate of teaching and vocal performance. She returned to Malaysia in 1988 and taught for two years in Penang and later at the Malaysian Institute of Art in Kuala Lumpur. In 1990, Sook Peng studied at the Royal Conservatorium in The Hague with Woul Oosterkamp on Opera then the Hochschule fur Music in Dresden with Prof. Christian Elssner. Later, she was based in the Netherlands as a singer where she also conducted private lessons in voice and piano. She is associated with the Netherlands Opera and has participated in more than twenty projects with the Dutch Radio Choir including the opening of the Amsterdam Arena and the prestigious Prinsengracht concert in 1996. Sook Peng performed in a series of shows with the Dama Orchestra back in Malaysia in 1997 and then a second series of concerts and released a CD called Spring Kisses and Lovers Tears in 1998. She moved back to Malaysia with her family in 2000 and is based in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. She had been a tutor in Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) since 2000 until 2002. She has been very active performing in concerts with Yap Ling (Violinist/Conductor) and Grace Lee Sui Lin (Pianist) forming L’Espressivo Trio. In 2006, Sook Peng and a group of friends and students successfully organized workshops, performing the famous “Yellow River Cantata” with 100 singers.
Grace Lee obtained her Bachelor of Music degree from Auckland University, where she studied piano under Tamas Vesmas. She also had conducting lessons with Uwe Groud and Karen Grill. While there, Grace conducted the Auckland Chinese Choir and served as pianist for several choirs. Besides giving solo performances she plays chamber music and serves as an orchestra pianist. She also accompanies several prominent musicians and choirs from time to time. These have taken her to England, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei and all over Malaysia. In order to upgrade herself, she also took up consultation lessons abroad with professors including Jeffrey Pratley and Tamara Smolyar. In 2000, she has attended the Professional Development Program for Music Teacher conducted by the AMEB in September in Melbourne. And during that time she also attended a special short-term upgrading program at the Monash University. In 2005, she performed the Mozart Double Piano Concerto with Thomas Ling and the KKSO for the New Year Concert in Kota Kinabalu. She played the orchestra reduction of the “Yellow River Cantata” for Concert with the choir on 12th May 2006 in Kota Kinabalu and later in October accompanied the “Duos” of violin and viola played by Foo Say Ming & Yap Ling for concerts in KK and Miri. Recently, she has performed with three prominent KK musicians in “Friends in Concert” in aid of charity in Kota Kinabalu. As a conductor, she is now conducting the children choir for Penampang Song En Methodist Church. She also regularly teaches and gives masterclasses in Sarawak and Sabah.
Yap Ling is a versatile musician who performs, teaches, conducts and arranges music. He started the violin with Marcus Leong in Kuching. After obtaining his LRSM in 1986, he studied with Clarence Myerscough at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), London. He was later awarded the Sarawak Foundation Scholarship & RAM’s Alec Templeton Scholarship. While in London he was the Concertmaster for the Chelsea Symphony Orchestra, the Chelsea String Quartet, The London Chinese Ensemble and the Piano Trio under the Amadeus Quartet’s tutelage. Upgrading and performances has taken him to Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy, France, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Moscow (Russia), China and USA. In 1990, he has participated in the 1st World Youth Music Camp in KL & the 1st Pacific Music Festival in Japan (under the baton of Maestro Leonard Bernstein). He represented Malaysia as a violin tutor in the 1991 ASEAN Youth Music Workshop in Jakarta, Indonesia. He was a string tutor at UNIMAS & conducted their orchestra. He was the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor for the 1st and the 2nd Sarawak Music Camp in Kuching and Sibu respectively for 1999 and 2001. In 1997 he was conferred the Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in recognition for his contribution towards developing the music standard and promoting music in this part of the world. Besides giving regular recitals with his wife Grace Lee, he has also appeared as soloist with the Monash Simfonia in Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, the Penang Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) from KL playing the “Butterfly Lovers” Violin Concerto. He also conducted the Violin Masterclasses for ABRSM in Malaysia and regularly giving violin masterclasses and orchestra workshops in Sarawak and West Malaysia. Recently, he has performed with “Il Divo” and the soprano Cecilia Yap in Kuala Lumpur and Genting Highlands respectively. He is the conductor for the Kian Kok Youth Orchestra (KKYO), the 3rd KK Girls Brigade Company’s Band and the guest conductor of Miri Orchestra & Choir (MOC). He is the violinist for the MP3rio (Malaysian Piano Trio) and the guest Concertmaster of the Sinfoni Orkestra Negeri Sarawak (SONS). Besides teaching privately, presently he is also a violin & viola tutor at UMS.
