BOWIE MA / 馬金怡
Bowie Ma is a 19-year-old violist and violinist born in Hong Kong. She started learning the violin at the age of five and later began her viola study when she was thirteen. When she was 15, she was exceptionally admitted by The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts as the youngest diploma student there. She later obtained her diploma in music there when she was 17. Bowie is now studying Viola Performance at The Juilliard School, under the tutelage of Prof. Carol Rodland.
Having captured seven first-places and two second-places, Bowie is active in both local and international solo competitions. She won the championship at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival at the age of five, which makes her the youngest competitor there. She later won the Second Prize in the Osaka International Music Competition as well as the First Prize in the Hong Kong Virtuosos Music Competition. After winning the championships in the Youth Class and Open Class of the Hong Kong International Music Festival, Bowie was invited to perform with a local orchestra in Los Angeles.
Bowie had been receiving full scholarships every year from both her alma mater Pui Kiu College and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts because of her excellent performance in music. Almost all of her tuition fee at The Juilliard School is currently supported by the scholarship she received there.
Having joined the Hong Kong Youth Symphonic Orchestra at the age of 11, Bowie has toured with the orchestra around China and Europe. She has performed in Germany, the Netherlands, France, etc.
Since the age of 14, Bowie has participated in various music festivals in the United States, including the California Summer Music Program and Bowdoin International Festival. In April 2019, Bowie was chosen by maestro Thomas Riebl for IMS Prussia Cove, making her the first Hong Kong musician selected for the festival. During the summer of 2019, she was invited by the Heifetz International Music Festival to take part in their Shenandoah Quartet, performing alongside world-renowned musicians such as members of the Borromeo Quartet and Emerson Quartet, and violinist’s Itzhak Perlman’s piano partner Rohan De Silva.
In addition to her study, Bowie is also keen on teaching, She has more than five years of teaching experience and her students have obtained championships in different local competitions.
Bowie現年十九歲，生於香港，現為美國茱莉亞音樂學院大二學生，師從Prof. Carol Rodland。她五歲時學習小提琴，十三歲時師從Dr. Felix Ungar學習中提琴，十五歲時被香港演藝學院破格錄取，成為年紀最小的大學生，並於十七歲修畢音樂文憑，隨後入讀茱莉亞音樂學院。Bowie於過往曾每年獲母校培僑書院、香港演藝學院頒授全額獎學金，現時則獲茱莉亞音樂學院頒授近乎使學費全免的獎學金。
Bowie一直活躍於本地及國際獨奏比賽，先後贏取七次冠軍與兩次亞軍。Bowie於五歲時獲得香港校際節初級組冠軍，為全場年齡最小的參賽選手，其後獲得大阪國際音樂大賽亞軍（冠軍從缺）、香港演奏家音樂大賽冠軍等。Bowie更於二零一六及二零一七年分別獲得香港國際音樂節藝韻杯青年組和公開組冠軍，並受邀前往美國洛杉磯與當地樂團合作演出。Bowie年僅十一歲時曾参加香港青年愛樂樂團，並隨團參加「中港歐」數十場大規模的樂團演出，並在德國、荷蘭和法國等地公開表演。
Bowie自十四歲起在暑假期間考取不同美國音樂節，她曾前往加州暑期音樂營、鮑頓國際音樂節等等，並在二零一九年獲國際大師 Thomas Riebl 選入世界頂級音樂節 IMS Prussia Cove，成為首位入選該營的香港樂手。Bowie其後更獲海飛茲國際音樂節邀請，成為其仙納度四重奏的一員，與音樂節的導師同台表演。
學習的同時，Bowie自十四歲起開始兼職的教學生涯，現今已有五年多教學經驗，她的學生曾在本地不同比賽奪冠。