Announcement - IC2026
Join IC2026 Preview Concert & World Premiere Concert ! (Last update: 2026.05.11)
IC 2026 - Call for scores (Last update: 2025.03.15)
27 April 2026 - Announcing IC2026 Composer Fellows
The following emerging composers have been selected for this year’s festival: Arthur Yuen (Hong Kong), Yuval Medina (US), and Harry González (Colombia). Please click here for more information.
15 March 2026
The application deadline was closed.
22 January 2026
We are now accepting applications from emerging composers for the innovative 2026 season. Up to three selected Composer Fellows will join Prof. Bright Sheng, IAS Helmut and Anna Pao Sohmen Professor-at-Large, and guest artists to present and revise their music through in-depth open discussions at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and at the concerts at HKUST Shaw Auditorium and the Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall.
Don't miss your chance to take part in this internationally acclaimed festival. For details of eligibility, submission and timeline, please visit https://ic.hkust.edu.hk/2026/call-scores.
Introduction to IC2026
Hailed by the Financial Times as a festival with a "finely hewn sense of craft," Intimacy of Creativity – The Bright Sheng Partnership: Composers Meet Performers in Hong Kong (IC) returns for another innovative season from June 2 to June 10, 2026. This year, it is presented in partnership with Accademia Stauffer (The Stauffer Academy) from Cremona, Italy, the world's premier center for string instrument making (lutherie) in the 16th to 18th centuries, through families such as the Amati, Guarneri, and Stradivari.
The Stauffer Academy was established in 1985 to preserve and promote the Italian school of string instrument making and performance, training talented young musicians from around the world.
Intimacy of Creativity explores the creative process through public, in-depth Open Discussions on the campus of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), which hosts the festival presented by the HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS). Revised compositions by 3 selected Composer Fellows, between ages 20 and 35, are formally presented at a Preview Concert on campus, and at the World Premiere Concert held at the renowned Hong Kong City Hall Theatre.
Bright Sheng (IC Founder and Artistic Director, and HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study Helmut and Anna Pao Sohmen Professor-at-Large) and Intimacy of Creativity 2026 are proud to present the Stauffer String Ensemble as IC2026's Ensemble-in-Residence, along with LI La (李拉), a vibrant, internationally celebrated, multi-prize-winning young cellist, as our Guest Artist.
Presented by
Collaborative Partners
Partnered with
Supported by
- Dr. and Mrs. Helmut Sohmen in memory of Sir Yue-Kong Pao CBE JP
More About IC2026