IU alumnus to make his debut at Carnegie Hall this May

Typically, musicians begin their careers at very young ages but rarely get to perform at a prestigious venue like Carnegie Hall in New York .\nIU alumnus Jonathan Ng is not your typical musician. \nNg will have his Carnegie Hall debut concert conducting Antonio Vivaldi's "Gloria (RV589) in D major" this May. He will be accompanied by the New England Symphonic Ensemble and will be conducting a choir of 170 voices. The choir will be made up of Ng's own Catalina Choral Ensemble and other southern Arizona choral groups. Ng has lived in Arizona since he received his doctorate in conducting from IU in 2003.\n"I have not been trained since a young age, so it's really weird to decide to do music after college," Ng said.\nHe began his musical career taking voice and conducting lessons his first year of college at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and was inspired to pursue music while attending Kowloon City Baptist Church in Hong Kong. It was at this church of more than 15,000 members that Ng began conducting and singing.\nAfter receiving his undergraduate degree in music education, Ng taught for a couple of years before pursuing a master's degree in conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J.. During his time at Westminster, Ng participated at the Spoleto Festival in South Carolina. He also performed with the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra.\nNg came to IU and received a grant that paid for him to travel as a visiting scholar to England and France, where he visited the British Library and Oxford University's Bodleian Library.\nWith help from mentors Thomas Dunn and Jan Harrington in IU's choral conducting department, Ng completed his dissertation on the study of Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Sancta Civitas" (The Holy City).\n"They had a profound influence on my career and education," Ng said of his mentors.\nNg won the International Student Award in 2000 and 2003 while studying at IU.\nSince then, he has been performing all over the world. Last summer he traveled to Europe to participate in Mozart's 250th anniversary program. He performed as a tenor solo in concerts in Vienna, Austria, and Prague and Brno, Czech Republic.\nNg said he gets a feeling of satisfaction from music -- the "international language." \n"I have the privilege to understand a composer's intention," Ng said. "And the privilege to deliver the message through conducting and singing." \nWhen searching for their lifelong goal or career, he said undergraduates need to do what they love instead of worrying about how much money they will make. \n"If you are sincere with what you do, I really believe people will notice it," Ng said. "People can feel it"