Bach Cello Suite No.1 in G, BWV 1007
Fauré Three Pieces:
I Berceuse
II Papillon
III Après un Rêve
Shostakovich Cello Sonata in D minor

Ian Zhao Hongze cello
Joachim Lim piano

Zhao Hongze began studying the cello at an early age. Through hard work and dedication, he was admitted to the Primary, Secondary, and University Departments of the Central Conservatory of Music with outstanding results. He was later accepted into the Royal Northern College of Music in the UK to pursue a master’s degree, studying under Nicholas Trygstad and receiving a postgraduate scholarship. He has also studied under Professor Yu Mingqing, President of the China Cello Association and Deputy Director of the Orchestral Department at the Central Conservatory of Music, as well as cellist Yu Jia, a young performer residing in the United States.

Zhao has participated in the national Aiqin Cup Cello Competition multiple times, achieving second place in the amateur category and fourth place in the professional category. He won second place in the ensemble category at the Central Conservatory of Music’s 3rd Chamber Music Competition (with no first prize awarded) and was the top finisher in the Yiyang Top Talent competition. Other accomplishments include third place in the 2019 Aiqin Cup ensemble category and the gold medal in the Open Group C at the 2021 Golden Hall String Invitational in the Beijing region. He has performed with the Central Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra on numerous large-scale occasions and has participated in various international music festivals and competitions, receiving guidance from renowned cellists such as Lynn Harrell and Qin Liwei. His many years of performance experience have greatly enriched his skills.

Joachim Lim was born in Singapore in 2001 and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, with a full scholarship under the tutelage of Professor Pascal Nemirovski and John Thwaites, aHer graduatIng with first class honours in his Bachelor’s of Music degree at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 2023. He previously studied at The Purcell School since 2012, where he studied with Pascal Nemirovski and in 2017, with William Fong, the Head of Keyboard. In 2016, Joachim became the Dunard Scholar, and his studies at The Purcell School since have been supported by the Dunard Fund.

Joachim gave his first public performance at the age of four in Singapore and since then he has performed internationally at the Weill Recital Hall at the Carnegie Hall; the Fazioli Concert Hall, Sacile; the Ateneo de Madrid; the Danube Palace Concert Hall, Budapest; and at the Kawaguchi Lilia
Music Hall in Japan. Across London, he has performed most notably at the Milton Court Concert Hall at the Barbican, The Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre, St Martin-in-the-Fields and Drapers’ Hall. Joachim has received top prizes in several piano competitions, most recently the Piano Prize at the RBC in January 2024.