Drama

LI Wing-Hong is a Senior Lecturer in Voice Studies and the Discipline Leader of the Musical Theatre Curriculum at the School of Drama of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
     
He is the first Chinese in Britain being awarded The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) bursary to complete his MA in Professional voice practice with distinction at the Birmingham School of Acting (BSA) in 2010. He graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, School of Drama, majoring in Acting. In 1999, he was the Drama Scholar of the English Speaking Union and attended the Voice Teacher’s Course at the Royal National Theatre studio, where he worked with internationally renowned voice practitioners including Patsy Rodenburg, Jeannette Nelson, and Kelly McEvenue. This opportunity triggered his determination to further his training in voice in Europe. In 2002, he emigrated to the UK, where he first trained at the Guildford School of Acting (GSA) in Musical Theatre. Then he launched his career in London after graduation, as a TV and film actor, theatre practitioner, and community arts worker. His TV credits include Casualty, Judge John Deed (BBC), Ultimate Force, The Bill (ITV), and his theatre credits include Moonwalking in Chinatown, Soho Theatre, 2007; Sweet Mandarin, True Heart Theatre, 2009, and many other voice-over and commercial appearances.     
     
Later, he caught the chance to train with other world-renowned voice teachers, including Cecily Berry and Kristin Linklater. In recent years, he has focused on the study of voice teaching and learning with the support of a scientific approach, and he is now an Estill Master Trainer under the mentorship of Naomi Eyers.     
     
Li was the co-artistic director of True Heart Theatre, a London-based, Chinese-led theatre company until 2011. During his co-directorship, he developed close grassroots connections to the Chinese community and mainstream theatre organizations, including Soho Theatre, The Young Vic, and New Diorama Theatre. In May 2010, he directed Yat Yau’s award-winning play 73A in English and Cantonese. It was the first time a Hong Kong play was staged on an off-West End theatre venue. This first collaboration was well-received and hence enabled him to develop his career further. He also produced the “In the Mirror”, a series of 3 one-woman plays in Nov 2011 before returning to Hong Kong.     
     
His director and co-director credits included: the Academy musical: Children of Eden, Rent, Songs for a New World, Spring Awakening & Shanghai Exchanged Tour, You ‘re the Good man Charlie Brown, Lucky Stiff and tick, tick, BOOM!. Other Director credits included: The Songs for a New Word (Musical Trios), Love at First Snow (7A Drama Class), My city, my home (Actors’ Family). Recent voice and singing coach credits included: Woman in Kenzo and Man of La Mancha (Chung Ying Theatre Company). Also, he is the private singing coach of pop singers such as Louis Cheung, Kay Tse, Keung To and Lyman Heung.