Alan Kwan

Guitarist | Composer | Producer | Educator

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Alan Kwan is recognised across the world as a multi-talented guitarist and composer with innate virtuosic musicality. Having garnered numerous international awards and nominations, these accolades are testament to Kwan’s dedicated musicianship. Under Kwan’s leadership, the band Invisible Architecture, which debuted in 2021 with the album Between Now and Never, won the prestigious Golden Melody Award for Best Instrumental Album Producer and three other nominations for Best Instrumental Recording Album (Technical Category), Best Composer (Instrumental Category), and Best Instrumental Album. Kwan’s first album, Petrichor, also received three Golden Melody Awards nominations for the Best Instrumental Album, Best Instrumental Album Producer, and Best Composer (Instrumental Category). In 2021, Kwan received the Hong Kong Secretary for Home Affairs' Commendation Scheme Award for his outstanding contribution to the development of arts and culture specifically in youth education and social outreach in music.

Kwan performs and records with many of the world’s leading musicians including Billy Childs, Dayna Stephens, Fabian Almazan, Linda May Oh, Johnathan Blake, Orlando Le Fleming, Reuben James, Glenn Zaleski, Kazumi Watanabe, Paul Bollenback, Rogerio Boccato, Stefan Karlsson, David Smith, Masaki Hayashi, Takashi Sugawa, May Inoue, Kazu Kumagai, Eugene Pao and Ted Lo amongst others. He is also a close collaborator with instrument and gear makers, and is an artist for Yamaoka Guitars, Westville Guitars, Jam Pedals, Eventide Audio, Stringjoy and Daiking Corporation.

Kwan has successfully built a strong profile as a performer and is frequently invited to perform at diverse shows ranging from festivals, stage concerts to private shows in locations across the globe, including the U.S.A., Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. A number of these performances include, Montreux Jazz Festival China, Taichung Jazz Festival (main stage), Taipei Jazz Festival (main stage), French May Arts Festival and Macau International Music Festival.

Formal music education began for Kwan at the University of North Texas, where he received the Kris Kolflat Scholarship and Academic Scholarship from the College of Music. From here, he decided to pursue jazz music further and became Master of Music in Jazz Performance at Queens College, City University of New York in 2017, where he concurrently tapped into the New York jazz scene.

With his musical roots in jazz, Kwan advocates for it passionately by educational efforts for professionals and a general audience alike. He regularly conducts masterclasses in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and the U.S.A. He has been invited by the Musician’s Institute and ESP Academy as Visiting Artist for a Masterclass Series and has been curator and host for various jazz education projects, including the “Black Music Legends Club: Conversations with Dr. Chi Chung Wong & Alan Kwan” at Asia Society Hong Kong Center in 2022, “Jazz Classics - Let’s Listen, Let’s Jam!” Lecture Demonstrations in 2018-2021, “Jazz Composers’ Lab” video series in 2021-2022, and RTHK podcast series “Jazz Talk” in 2022.

Music for Kwan extends beyond categories; he has composed for several feature films and advertisements and his works have complemented visual art forms too, including Jacky Tsai’s Solo Exhibition at the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning in 2023. Kwan’s diverse tastes allow for imaginative explorations in musical compositions across art forms.

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