Recognized as one of Musical America’s 30 Innovators of the Year, Adrian Fung is an award-winning cellist, educator, and arts executive. Adrian currently serves as Executive and Artistic Director of the celebrated arts organization Music In The Morning, enriching the lives of the Vancouver community through over 60 performances throughout the year, including the downtown festival Summer Music Vancouver.

As the founding cellist of the critically acclaimed Afiara Quartet, Adrian is a winner of the Concert Artist Guild International Competition, Young Canadian Musicians Award, 2nd prizes at the Munich ARD and Banff International String Quartet Competitions, and the Szekely Prize for Best Interpretation of Beethoven. Le Devoir praises “their intrinsic class, their panache, and their expressive intensity” and La Presse calls the quartet “a revelation”. A JUNO-nominated artist and producer, his projects have been featured by Forbes and CBC Music in each of their Top 10 Albums of the Year and praised by Toronto Star as “one of the most attention-grabbing shows of the year.” Adrian has performed over 600 performances in extensive tours worldwide including such storied stages as Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw, Austria’s Esterhazy Palace, the Library of Congress, Kennedy Center, Munich’s Prinz Regenten Theatre, the Royal Library in Copenhagen, and London’s Wigmore Hall. As a soloist, he has been critically acclaimed for his “virtuosic” playing (San Francisco Classical Voice), his “superb” and “brilliant” performance (New York Concert Review), and as a “consummate interpreter of the composer’s message” (Ontario Arts Review). As a soloist and guest artist, he has appeared in recital at Carnegie Hall, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Kronos Quartet, and DJ Kid Koala.

Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President of RCM Learning Systems at The Royal Conservatory, overseeing the launch of both the Violin and Piano Series publication and curricula, increase in revenues from digital learning assets, and 64% increase music teacher-student engagement across North America. He also served as Associate Dean and Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma’s Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts. Along with his administrative duties working with the five schools in the College, Adrian led the creation and launch of arts management and entrepreneurship programs (AME) at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and the International Arts Incubator. In his capacity as a tenured associate professor, Adrian’s research included curricular skill gaps in higher education, digital innovation, new artistic revenue and revenue-sharing models, and the impact of entrepreneurial training within formal higher education.

In addition, Adrian served as Vice President for Innovation at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where he led the TSO’s activities in artistic, social, and economic innovation. His work included leading a $10-million budget which saw the launch of a year-long, nationwide Signature Initiative Project reaching an audience of over 14.5 million via 50 orchestral commissions and over 40 partner orchestras nationwide. He also created a new multi-camera e-learning platform with self-directed angle toggling, bringing to life over 20 live, full-orchestra video and audio recordings.

Adrian earned a Bachelor of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory, the Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School, and an MBA from the University of Toronto. Featured in Fortune as one of the Best and Brightest Executive MBAs, he has taught business strategy widely, including The Banff Centre, HEC Montreal School of Business, and Orford Arts, among others. He served as jury member of the Eckhardt-Gramatte National Competition, ECM Generation National Award, and the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition.

Adrian plays on a cello made in 1787 by Benjamin Banks, on lifetime loan to him from an anonymous donor.