MUSIC
LIGHT
The Founder Story
✧ Where the Rhythm Began
Margie Tong graduated from the School of Music of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She was a recipient of The Standard Chartered Bank Scholarship (1994), The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music Fund (1994), and The Croucher Charitable Trust (1996) from England to continue her studies at the Royal College of Music in London. Tong performed Kurka’s Marimba Concerto as a soloist with the RCM Sinfonia in May 1995. During this time, she won the Sullivan and Farrar Prize (1995) and the British Resume Prize (1995). Tong performed in many musicals including How to Succeed in Business Without Trying (1991), Barnum (1994), Les Miserables (1996), Falsettoland (1998), The Wizard of Oz (1999), and theatrical performances such as Hong Kong For Sure (2011) by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, Heading West (2002) and The Seventh Drawer (2003) by Theatre Fanatico. During 1997–1999, Tong was appointed as the Percussion Assistant Principal with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. She was one of the creators of Boombastic Verses at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in 1999.
✧ Across Continents, Across Cultures
Tong has toured extensively with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra to Beijing, Taipei, and Singapore. In 2003, Tong performed Little Toys at the Hong Kong Arts Festival and Singapore Arts Festival, and was invited to perform at the Asian Images Festival in Denmark and Shanghai (2006) and Musée du quai Branly in Paris (2010). In 2004, Tong performed in the world premiere of Opiume in Singapore and the Hong Kong New Vision Arts Festival series the same year. Tong also was commissioned to compose and perform with the artwork Dialogue – Chimming by Ren Rong in the same Art Festival. In 2006, Tong performed in the world premiere of The 11th Rib by Helena Wong (writer) at the Fringe Art Festival in Edinburgh. Tong performed in pop concerts as a feature artist and toured around the world frequently since 2002. In 2009, Tong performed her percussion recitals at Hong Kong Arts Centre and HKAPA. In 2011, under a Hong Kong Art Development Council granted project, Tong performed her recital Pulsation in Sheung Wan Civic Centre. In 2013, Tong often presented clinics, workshops, and competition jury across Asia, and formed a professional and unique local percussion group, Run-around Ensemble. Tong was a percussion creator of When Petals Fall in Serenity by Law Wing Fai and performed in Hong Kong (2014) and Taipei (2015) Hong Kong Week Festival. In 2018, Tong was invited to perform in the 9th Shenzhen International Percussion Culture Festival.
"My journey with percussion has taken me from the HKAPA to the Royal College of Music in London, and through more than 30 years of performing around the world. I founded this studio to share that passion. My goal isn’t only to teach techniques — it’s to inspire every student to discover their own creative rhythm."
— Margie Tong
✧ From Performer to Guide
Since 2016, Tong started her music journey to various cities around the world, such as Bali in Indonesia, Varanasi in India, Tahiti in French Polynesia, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia in Brazil, Lima and Cuzco in Peru for continuing her studies of world percussion music. Tong has been influenced by the cultures and musical styles of different countries; she resonated more deeply with the connection between music and her inner world. This also motivated her to dedicate herself to creating percussion music rich in imagery.