Born in Hong Kong, IVY KAN is the co-founder of a fully student-led orchestra, the Hong Kong Youth Philharmonia, where she made her conducting debut in 2022. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance, minoring in both Conducting and Music Education, at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music on multiple scholarships, where she studies with Mark Kaplan and Arthur Fagen. She began playing the violin at the age of five with her father and furthered her studies under the tutelage of Andrew Ling. At the age of thirteen, she was appointed concertmaster of the Hong Kong Youth Symphony Orchestra and received a Certificate of Merit from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong. She was also the concertmaster of both the Diocesan Girls’ School (DGS) Symphony Orchestra and DGS String Orchestra, and was selected as a recipient of the scholarship “DGS Valuable Musician” for two consecutive years. She was a member of the Yip’s Children’s Choir as well where she was featured as a soloist and toured around the world with the choir.
Kan is also a mezzo-soprano and has studied under the tutelage of Deepa Johnny, Maggie Kinabrew, and Kate Johnson. In 2017, she sang the roles of Arlecchino and Tuna in Yip’s Children’s Choir’s opera production of Pinocchio. Over the years, she has received multiple awards in both solo and duet categories, and as a member of her school’s madrigal team and choirs at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. In 2018, her school’s girls choir and mixed choir both captured the Championship and Gold Medal in their respective categories at the 10th World Choir Games.
Kan was selected as a PhilanthroKids Giving Tuesday Ambassador in 2020 in recognition of her continuous and active engagements in different community service projects over the years, which includes offering regular violin lessons and tutoring for underprivileged children, as well as participating in charity concerts.