Aik Khai Pung
Music Director & Conductor
An all-around conductor and educator, Aik Khai Pung is music director of the CCM Concert Orchestra, CCM Chamber Orchestra, Seven Hills Symphony, and Sound of Joy Choir. Prior to his engagement at CCM, Pung has taught at Earlham College in Indiana, Akademie der Chinesische Bunte Blätter in Munich, and Peking University in Beijing. He has served as music director of NANOWorks Opera, head instructor of the Orchestral, Choir, and Opera Conducting Workshop in Malaysia, cover conductor of Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, instructor of CCM Opera Bootcamp, and instructor of Charleston Symphony Orchestra Conducting Workshop.
On top of his passion for teaching, Pung is actively involved in music festivals around the world such as Lincoln Center Festival (New York), Spoleto Festival USA (Charleston, SC), CCM Spoleto (Spoleto, Italy), Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca (Lucca, Italy), Georgetown Festival (Penang, Malaysia) and Luminato Festival (Toronto, Canada), where he conducts and assists opera productions as well as symphonic concerts.
As a multi-instrumentalist, Pung plays the piano, violin, Er-hu (Chinese traditional fiddle), Chinese dulcimer, and viola da gamba. A Doctor of Music in Orchestral Conducting, Pung studied under Annunziata Tomaro, Xu Xin, Zhang Yi and Ulrich Nicolai. Pung received the CCM Distinguished Young Alumnus Award and UC Outstanding Alumni Award in 2018. He won second prize in the Taiwan Chinese Orchestra (TCO) international Conducting Competition (2015) and was the Special Award winner for Conducting Chinese Music at the First Hong Kong International Conducting Competition (2011). He was the first international conducting student to be accepted to the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music, the top conservatory in China, where he was awarded outstanding student of the year (2005).
Matthew Moquin-Lee
Assistant Conductor
Meet Matthew Moquin-Lee, a versatile conductor and accomplished singer hailing from Mississippi. Matthew holds a bachelor’s degree in choral music education from the University of North Texas’ College of Music. After teaching high school, Matthew further developed his skills by earning a master’s degree in choral conducting from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. Recently, he has completed his coursework for a doctorate of musical arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), with a cognate in arts administration.
With a passion for building organizational structures and fostering community, Matthew has garnered extensive experience in the arts industry, consistently operating at a high artistic level. His training under esteemed choral conductors including Drs. Joe Miller, Brett Scott, Jerry McCoy, and Richard Sparks has greatly shaped his conducting expertise.
Presently, Matthew leads a fulfilling and active professional life as the Worship Arts Director at First Lutheran Church Cincinnati in OTR. He also serves as the Director of the Women’s Chorus at Xavier University, Artistic Director and Conductor of the local community chorus, Fluidity – A Creative Choral Community for a Cause.
With a passion for building organizational structures and fostering community, Matthew has garnered extensive experience in the arts industry, consistently operating at a high artistic level. His training under esteemed choral conductors including Drs. Joe Miller, Brett Scott, JerryMcCoy, and Richard Sparks has greatly shaped his conducting expertise.
Presently, Matthew leads a fulfilling and active professional life as the Worship Arts Director at First Lutheran Church Cincinnati in OTR. He also serves as the Director of the Women’s Chorus at Xavier University, Artistic Director and Conductor of the local community chorus, Fluidity – A Creative Choral Community for a Cause.
