Bio
Michelle Kwok is a Hong Kong-born conductor, singer, and music educator. She was named the second runner-up of the American Prize in Conducting: The Dale Warland Award, and has led performances in Germany, the Czech Republic, the United States, and Taiwan. Recent conducting engagements include Duruflé's Requiem, Haydn's The Creation, and Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem. An advocate for contemporary choral music, Kwok has commissioned and premiered works by living composers, such as Jin Cheng-zhi’s Farewell (Cantonese Version) and Elby Kwok’s Reborn.
Kwok is a recent recipient of the 2026 Westminster Choir College Performing Arts Merit Award. She was previously the Director and Assistant Conductor of Indiana University’s University Chorale, NOTUS, University Singers, Pro Cantare, Westminster Schola Cantorum and Chapel Choir, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Student Union Choir, and The Chinese University of Hong Kong Christian Choir. Beyond the concert stage, Kwok has served as the Chorus Master of Nutcracker, Assistant Chorus Master for operas Carmen, Don Giovanni, Ainadamar, and Die lustige Witwe. During her time in Hong Kong, she co-founded the award-winning community choir, Fluente Chorus. Kwok is an active adjudicator and clinician. Her research on Cantonese choral music was published in the Choral Journal by the American Choral Directors Association and has informed performances in the United States and Canada.
Kwok received her Doctor of Music in Choral Conducting from Indiana University, and degrees from Westminster Choir College (with Distinction) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She has studied conducting with Simon Carrington, James Jordan, and Chris Albanese, among other distinguished mentors. She was a conducting fellow at the Taipei International Choral Festival and Sarteano Choral Workshop. A classically trained singer, she studied voice with Judith Malafronte, Victoria Browers, and Caleb Woo. She performed and won prizes with the Diocesan Choral Society in Latvia, Japan, and China. Kwok holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Music Education from CUHK, LRSM, and DipABRSM (Distinction) in Voice.
Kwok currently serves as a Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor & Associate Director of Choirs at The College of William and Mary, Artistic Director of the Williamsburg Choral Guild, and Artistic Director of Fluente Chorus. In her free time, she enjoys making soup and taking walks.
