Martin Kuo Tzu Ming

Born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, violist Martin Kuo Tzu-Ming started learning classical music with his music teacher mother on the piano. He then followed the footsteps of his elder brother to learn the violin at six.

Martin first played in a quartet when he was studying in middle school. He has developed a strong enthusiasm for chamber music since then. He went to the music class of Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Senior High School, majoring in violin and minoring in piano performance. In 2016, Martin was awarded a full scholarship at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts to study with Associate Professor Ivan Chan, the former leader of Miami String Quartet. He gained his Bachelor's and Master's degree in the academy. His previous teachers included Chinn-Horng Nanette Chen, Li I-ching, Jung-Shin Fang, Jing-Ying Zhen. He also studied in other occasions with Ida Kavafian, Benny Kim, Cho-Liang Lin, Ning Feng, Shizuka Ishikawa, Gregory Maytan, Evgeny Zvonnikov, Gregory Plays and Vesselin Paraschkevov among the others.

Tzu-Ming was awarded a full scholarship to CICA Summer Music Festival in Dallas, Texas in 2012 and was the winner of the concerto competition there. He was also the winner of the concerto competition at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and performed Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with the orchestra in 2018. Martin has also attended Meadowmount School of Music 2017, Ken Blossom Music Festival 2018 and Heifetz International Music Institute 2019 with full scholarship.

Previously a member of the Virtus Quartet in 2016/17, Martin joined the Cong Quartet as an interim member in 2018/19, which participated in various international chamber events such as the Robert Mann String Quartet Institute in New York and Salzburg Mozart International Chamber Competition in Tokyo.

Martin is an active performer and teacher in Hong Kong, and he is currently teaching at the HKAPA Junior Music Programme