Elliot Ho Yat Leung (Chinese: 梁皓一; pinyin: Liang Haoyi) is a composer best known for his work on Operation Red Sea, The Battle at Lake Changjin and The Rescue. He is the first and only composer from Hong Kong to break into Hollywood. He has composed the score for 3 of the top 10 highest-grossing non-English films with his films grossing over 2 billion USD, making him one of the highest grossing composers in Asia.[1][2] His works have been performed in many prestigious venues, namely the National Centre for the Performing Arts (China), Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium. He was named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2022.[3]

Elliot Ho Yat Leung 梁皓一
Leung in May 2017 during the 1st Hong Kong Shenzhen Cultural Exchange "同心耀中華 — 紫荊花開."
Background information
Born	(1995-08-03) August 3, 1995 (age 27) British Hong Kong
Genres	Film scores, Classical, Symphonic
Occupation(s)	Composer, Music Director, Multi-instrumentalist
Instrument(s)	Keyboard, Piano, Cello
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Milan Records, Sony Classical, H1Music Limited
Website	www.elliotleung.com

Early life

Leung was born and raised in British Hong Kong, the eldest of two children to a father who had dreams to be a visual artist and a mother who wanted to pursue a musical career.[4] His mother plays piano and was a chorale soprano. He received early music education in St. Paul's Co-educational College and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, and transferred to International Christian School in his secondary years.[5] He later furthered his studies in Wheaton Conservatory of Music and graduated with a Bachelor degree in Music Composition.

When Leung was two years old, his mother began teaching him how to play the piano. When he turned five, his swift musical growth was quickly identified by teachers of St. Paul's Co-educational College. The next year, Leung was sent to study music and the cello with former Principal Cellist of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Laurent Perrin. When he was fifteen, Leung made his debut appearance on CCTV's "Charming China Youth Arts Festival (亞洲藝術盛典 · 魅力中國)" show.

Leung was mentored by Martin O'Donnell when he traveled to the United States to further his musical pursuits. O'Donnell's modal music was a musical influence throughout Leung's upbringing. In an interview, Leung commented that his original post-college intentions were to follow O'Donnell's footsteps and pursue graduate studies in music at the University of Southern California until he was scouted and named the composer of Operation Red Sea.[6]

Career

Leung's first job in the film industry was working as a composer assistant on the film "Insanity" in 2014. In 2015, he started scoring various kinds of media while continuing to work as an orchestrator. During this time, his choral music was highly praised by Bernard Chan of the Hong Kong Executive Council.[7] He also composed RTHK radio 1's new station jingle. His arrangement of "Descendants of the Dragon" (龍的傳人) was also performed in "同心耀中華 — 紫荊花開," held in Shenzhen as the concert finale as a part of the Hong Kong SAR's 20th Anniversary celebrations.[8][9][10]

Leung's breakthrough came in 2017, when Dante Lam asked him to compose the score of Operation Red Sea (紅海行動). The film was selected to represent Hong Kong in the best foreign-language film category at the 91st Academy Awards.[11] Leung's work on Operation Red Sea received critical acclaim, thus "The Valiant Flight" from the soundtrack album was staged and performed during the 8th Beijing International Film Festival.[12] Following the success of his breakthrough score, Leung was invited to score "The Rescue," and was involved in the production since pre-production.[13] The score was released internationally by Milan Records and Sony Classical on December 18, 2020.[14]

In 2021, Leung composed the theme and the score for The Battle at Lake Changjin, the second-highest-grossing film of 2021; the highest-grossing film in Chinese cinema history; and the highest-grossing non-English film of all time. Leung was invited to return for the sequel, The Battle at Lake Changjin II. He also released "Memoirs of Victoria," an album with an alternate title featuring the score and early sketches he composed for the film Anita: Director's Cut.

In 2022, Leung was listed on the Forbes' 2022 30 under 30.[3] Tencent Games invited him to compose for Honor of Kings, the highest-grossing mobile game of all-time.

Discography

Theatrical Films

Television Films

Television Series

Video Games

Awards and nominations

Concert Music

References

External links

• Elliot Leung official website
• Elliot Leung on IMDb
• Elliot Leung on HKMDB