Hong Kong-born flautist Sirius Chau, winner of the Royal Over-Seas League Competition, currently holds the title of City Music Foundation Artist and is the recipient of the prestigious Making Music’s Philip and Dorothy Green Award. Recognised as the Artist of Tillett Trust, Talent Unlimited, Manchester Mid-day Concerts Society, and Musicus Society in Hong Kong, he has also been honoured with the Tagore Gold Medal from King Charles III and the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Scholarship in 2019. In the same year, he made his solo debuts at both the Wigmore Hall and Bridgewater Hall in the UK.
Recent highlights feature his role as Principal Flute with the English Touring Opera and as Principal Piccolo with the Glyndebourne Sinfonia. Sirius is a familiar presence with renowned orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and London Sinfonietta.
A laureate in numerous international and national competitions, Sirius won first place at Eugene Magalif’s Flute Concerto International Competition in the USA, Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist Competition, Westbourne Orchestra Concerto Competition, and the Royal College of Music Solo Woodwind Competition, where he was awarded both the Flute Prize and Edward & Helen Hague Woodwind Prize. Scholarships from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund, Drake Calleja Trust, Countess of Munster Musical Trust, Help Musicians UK, and Leverhulme Arts Trust have further enriched his career.
Other significant accomplishments include winning the Alain-Marion Scholarship at the Domaine Forget International Music Academy (Canada), where Sirius studied privately with Emmanuel Pahud and Mathieu Dufour. He also won the Best Performance Award at the Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy and Festival (Japan) and received scholarships for training at the National Arts Centre (Canada), Orford Music Academy (Canada), Taipei Music Academy Festival, and the Alion Baltic International Music Festival (Estonia).
Emerging as a soloist and orchestral player in the U.K. and Asia, Sirius is a sought-after performer at music festivals throughout Europe, including Sound Unbound at Barbican Centre, Buxton International Festival, King’s Lynn Festival, Lichfield Festival, and Lake District Summer Music. He has premiered Ray Leung’s alto-flute concerto ‘Waiting’ and performed major flute concerti with orchestras such as the London Concertante, Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra, National Youth String Orchestra, and Westbourne Orchestra.
Sirius embarked on his flute journey under the tutelage of Matthew Wu, the founder of the Hong Kong Flute Academy. Continuing his educational pursuit at the Royal College of Music in London, he achieved an Artist Diploma in Performance and a Master of Music (Distinction) under the mentorship of Katie Bedford, Emer McDonough, Sue Thomas, Rachel Brown, and Kathleen Stevenson.