Ray Chen is a violinist who redefines what it means to be a classical musician in the 21st Century. Initially coming to attention via the Yehudi Menuhin (2008) and Queen Elizabeth (2009) Competitions, of which he was the First Prize winner, he has built a profile in Europe, Asia, and the US as well as his native Australia, both live and on disc.

Signed in 2017 to Decca Classics, the summer of 2017 saw the recording of the first album of this partnership with the London Philharmonic as a succession to his previous three critically acclaimed albums on SONY, the first of which, Virtuoso, received an ECHO Klassik Award. Profiled as “one to watch” by The Strad and Gramophone magazines, his profile has grown to encompass his featuring in the Forbes list of 30 most influential Asians under 30, appearing in major online TV series Mozart in the Jungle, a multi-year partnership with Giorgio Armani, and performing at major media events such as France’s Bastille Day, the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm, and the BBC Proms.

He has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Munich Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra Nazionale della Santa Cecilia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and upcoming debuts include the SWR Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, and Berlin Radio Symphony. He works with conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Jurowski, Sakari Oramo, and many others. From 2012-2015, he was a resident at the Dortmund Konzerthaus.

Chen has a media presence that enhances and inspires the classical audience, reaching out to millions through his unprecedented online following. More recently, Chen co-founded Tonic, an independent startup that aims to motivate musicians and learners around the world to practice their craft together. Although new, the innovative app has cultivated a highly engaged and supportive community.

Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Chen was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15, where he studied with Aaron Rosand and was supported by Young Concert Artists. He plays the 1715 “Joachim” Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. This instrument was once owned by the famed Hungarian violinist, Joseph Joachim (1831-1907).

Adrian Cheng is a cultural entrepreneur and founder of the K11 Group, a global cultural brand. It is the world’s first "cultural commerce" concept, with the intention of merging art and commerce and curating the customer journey with a focus on the next generation. K11 Group sustains an ecosystem that caters to all walks of life by blending three essential elements of art, people, and nature throughout their brand. With a passion for arts and culture, Cheng is dedicated to supporting artists, promoting public art education, and creating a platform for showcasing Chinese contemporary art. In 2010 Cheng founded K11 Art Foundation, and in 2018 established the K11 Craft & Guild Foundation, both non-profit organizations based in Hong Kong supporting the arts.

In 2019, Cheng launched his most ambitious project to date, Victoria Dockside, also known as K11’s art and cultural district. It was a 10-year in the making project than composes of the cultural-retail landmark K11 MUSEA, luxury service residences K11 ARTUS, the new-generation workspace K11 ATELIER, the world-class waterfront landmark Avenue of Stars, and Rosewood Hong Kong. The K11 Group is also co-creating with Kai Tak Sports Park to develop the largest sports, leisure, and shopping destination in Hong Kong. This development aims to offer local and overseas visitors a comprehensive one-stop experience encompassing sports, shopping, and dining.

Cheng grew up in Hong Kong and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Cum Laude) degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University. He also received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and an Honorary Fellowship from Lingnan University in 2014.

Cheng holds important positions in a number of prominent art and cultural institutions, including the Public Art Fund, MoMA PS1, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Royal Academy of Arts and Tate Asia Pacific Acquisitions Committee, London; and Asia Art Archive, Design Trust, and Le French May, Hong Kong, among others.

Since 2014, Cheng has been listed on ArtReview Power 100, ranking #12 in 2020. In 2017, he was awarded Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in recognition of his role in the advancement of cultural exchange between France and China. In 2019, Cheng was named the first-ever Global Ambassador of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). At the start of 2023, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Mega Arts and Cultural Events Committee by the Hong Kong Government, aiming to strengthen the city's status as a cultural exchange hub between China and the rest of the world.

Cheng is also the Executive Vice-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of New World Development Group Company Limited of which K11 Group is a subsidiary. In addition, he is the Executive Director of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited, Owner of Rosewood Hong Kong, Vice Chairman of CTF Education Group, and Founder and Chairman of The WEMP Foundation.

Christina Gaw has been the Managing Principal, Global Head of Capital Markets of Gaw Capital Partners since 2008. Gaw has also served as Co-chair of Alternative Investments of Gaw Capital Partners since 2021. Gaw has served as an Executive Director of Pioneer Global Group (SEHK: 224) since 2014, as well as an Independent Non-Executive Director and a Member of the Finance and General Committee and the Sustainability Committee of CLP Holdings (SEHK: 2), a company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited engaged in the power business in the Asia Pacific region, since 2020. She was also appointed as the member of the Main Board and GEM Listing Committees of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in 2022. Gaw was named Global PERE’s Rainmaker 30 and awarded “Business Women of the Year Awards” by CEO Today Global Awards in 2019, and named as one of the Top 10 PERE’s Women of Influence in 2021.

Gaw has over 25 years of investment banking and investment management experience in the Asia Pacific region, having worked at UBS and Goldman Sachs for 15 years during her investment banking career, covering major institutional clients around the globe in Asian Equities. Prior to joining Gaw Capital Partners, Gaw was a Managing Director at UBS, heading up the Asia Pacific Capital Introduction effort for alternative products; prior to that, she was the Head of Regional Sales in Equities Distribution at UBS.

Gaw holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco.

Masayuki Hyodo is the Chairman of Sumitomo Corporation, one of the world’s leading investment and trading companies with a global network and business activities throughout a wide range of industrial fields.

Hyodo has dedicated much of his 40-year career to Sumitomo Corporation, focusing on the development and operation of power generation projects throughout Asia and the Middle East. Prior to his appointment as CEO in 2018, Hyodo served as General Manager of the Environment and Infrastructure Business Unit, where he oversaw power generation, industrial parks, and port and rail development. In this role, he focused on creating “Triple Value,” which refers to considering environmental, social, and economic factors when evaluating business opportunities. Today, he leads Sumitomo Corporation with a strategic focus on pursuing sustainable business ventures that respond to changing markets.

Hyodo's involvement extends beyond Sumitomo Corporation. He serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Councilors of Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation) and is an active member of the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council, the Asia Business Council, and the Keizai Doyukai (the Japan Association of Corporate Executives), where he serves as Chair of the Energy Committee. 

Hyodo obtained his master’s degree from the Graduate School of Engineering of Kyoto University.

Richard T. Lee, MD, is a Clinical Professor in the Departments of Supportive Care Medicine and Medical Oncology at City of Hope National Medical Center. Dr. Lee serves as the inaugural Director and endowed Chair of the Cherng Family Center for Integrative Oncology, overseeing this national program involving clinical, research, and educational initiatives. As a medical oncologist, he provides routine oncologic care with a focus on gastrointestinal cancers. Additionally, he offers broad consultative services regarding supportive and integrative cancer approaches.

Dr. Lee earned both his B.A. in Anthropology and MD at George Washington University as part of the Seven-Year B.A/M.D. Combined Degree Program. He then completed his internal medicine residency at Stanford, his fellowship in hematology/oncology at the University of Chicago, where he served as chief fellow, and finally his palliative care fellowship at Northwestern University. Between residency and fellowship, Dr. Lee became a Fulbright Scholar to Taiwan and China. There, he attended China Medical University in Taichung, Taiwan, to study Traditional Chinese Medicine with a focus on acupuncture. This experience abroad helped cultivate his interest in integrative oncology.

Currently, Dr. Lee is building integrative oncology services at the City of Hope in Southern California with plans for expansion throughout the entire enterprise. His research focuses on health services, utilizing survey studies to explore both patients' and clinicians' perspectives on supportive and integrative services. He also investigates the anti-cancer activities of natural plants, specifically mistletoe and mushrooms, to develop new cancer treatments. Dr. Lee conducts ongoing clinical research evaluating the benefits of acupuncture and meditation. He is the recipient of multiple research grants, including from ASCO and the NIH National Cancer Institute. His work has led to over 70 publications, including in peer-reviewed cancer journals and book chapters, and he has been an invited speaker at both national and international meetings.

Olympic Champion Eileen Gu made history at the 2022 Winter Olympics, securing two golds and a silver medal, becoming the only action sports athlete to win three medals in a single Olympic event, and the youngest ever Freeski Gold Medalist. In addition to her Olympic results, X Games Gold Medals, and World Cup victories, Gu has been honored with the “Action Sportsperson of the Year” at the 2023 Laureus World Sports Award, named to the TIME 100 Most Influential People List, and earned the Best Breakthrough Athlete at the ESPY’s.

Off snow, Gu has walked the runway for Louis Vuitton at their Cruise Show and has graced the covers of iconic fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Elle, T Magazine, V Magazine, and Instyle, while also excelling academically at Stanford University. She is dedicated to using her platform and voice to inspire youth, particularly girls, to transcend their limits and embrace sports for a confident and healthy life.

Gene Sykes is co-chair of Global Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) and co-chair of the Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group at Goldman Sachs. He joined the M&A department in the Investment Banking Division in New York in 1984 before transferring to Los Angeles in 1987. Sykes was named partner in 1992.

Sykes is chair of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Between 2015 and 2018, Sykes served as chief executive officer of Los Angeles 2024 and then Los Angeles 2028, the organization responsible for bidding for and organizing the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games. He is a member of the Stanford University Board of Trustees and a member of the Advisory Council of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Sykes serves on the boards of the Pacific Council on International Policy and Common Sense Media. 

Sykes earned an MBA from Stanford University in 1984 and an AB from Harvard University in 1980.

Dave Roberts is the Manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 2016 NL Manager of the Year and 2020 World Series champion enters his ninth season at the helm of the Dodgers and begins the season with the highest winning percentage by a manager in Major League Baseball history (minimum 850 games managed) at .630 (753-443). He is the only National League manager in history to lead his team to the playoffs in his first eight seasons and first to accomplish that feat since Joe Torre led the Yankees to the playoffs in his first 12 seasons at the helm. In 2017, Roberts became the second manager of Asian descent in MLB history, and in 2020 he became the second Black and first Asian manager to become the World Series champion. 

Roberts was born to an African American father and a Japanese mother in Okinawa, Japan. He attended Rancho Buena High School in Vista, CA and playing quarterback, he led his squad to the San Diego Class 3 A State title in 1990. Roberts played baseball at UCLA and is the school’s all-time leader in stolen bases (109). He was originally drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 28th round of the 1994 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Roberts played in the Majors for 10 seasons, debuting with the Cleveland Indians on Aug. 7, 1999 and subsequently, played for the Indians (1999-2001), Dodgers (2002-04), Red Sox – contributing to the team’s 2004 World Series title in 2004, Padres (2005-06), and Giants (2007-08). 

Roberts is a member of Major League Baseball’s Diversity Pipeline Advisory Committee, the Player Development Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Board. 

Victor Chu was born in Canton, China, and took his law degree at University College London (UCL). Chu is Chairman and CEO of First Eastern Investment Group, a leading Hong Kong based international investment firm and a pioneer of private equity investments in China.

He has also served as a Foundation Board Member (Trustee) of the World Economic Forum from 2003 to 2015 and currently co-chairs the Forum’s International Business Council. 

He is admitted to practice law in England and Hong Kong. He served as Deputy Secretary-General of the International Bar Association (IBA) from 1995 to 2000. He is a Trustee of Asia House in Hong Kong, as well as a member of the advisory boards of Chatham House, the Oxford Martin School, and the Atlantic Council of the USA. He was awarded the 2011 Global Economy Prize by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Jeffrey Deitch has been involved with modern and contemporary art for fifty years as an artist, writer, curator, dealer, and advisor.

Deitch’s first important curatorial project was Lives, a 1975 exhibition about artists who used their own lives as an art medium. His influential exhibition, Post Human, was presented at five museums and foundations in Europe and the Middle East in 1992-93.  

Deitch’s vanguard commercial gallery, Deitch Projects, produced more than two hundred and fifty projects during its fifteen-year history from 1995-2010.

From 2010 to 2013, Deitch served as Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, where he presented fifty exhibitions and projects including Art in the Streets, which had the highest attendance in the museum’s history.

Deitch reestablished his art advisory firm and his art gallery in 2015 and currently operates galleries in New York and Los Angeles. The galleries are known for thematic exhibitions like People (2018), Punch (2019), and Shattered Glass, (2021). The gallery has also presented ambitious solo exhibitions with major artists including Ai Weiwei, Judy Chicago, Urs Fischer, Robert Longo, Nari Ward, Faith Ringgold, Frank Stella, and Rammellzee.

As a writer, Deitch co-authored a monograph on Keith Haring, published by Rizzoli in 2008, and edited and wrote the introduction to Jean Michel Basquiat, 1981: The Studio of the Street, published by Charta in 2007. Unrealism, his book on new figurative painting, was published by Rizzoli in 2019. His book City as Studio, a compact history of street art, was published in 2021 by the K11 Art Foundation. Luncheon on the Grass, featuring contemporary artists’ responses to Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, published by Rizzoli, was released in April 2024. 

Janie Fong serves as Senior Managing Director of East West Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of East West Bancorp, Inc., a publicly owned company in the United States with operations in Asia. As the region’s former Chief Representative of the fifth largest economy in the world, Fong was appointed by the California Governor to represent the State of California in Greater China from 2000-2004. Through her former post as California’s Chief Representative, Fong successfully established new diplomatic, economic, trade, and investment ties between California, the U.S., and Asia Pacific firms with benefits flowing both ways across the Pacific. Fong continues to be an active proponent of building meaningful cross-cultural bridges and partnerships between the U.S. and Asia in her current role at East West Bank.

Fong has experience in managing international business transactions along with corporate mergers and acquisitions activities and strategic advisory work as an international business attorney with a specialty in U.S.-Asia cross-border transactions. Fong served on the Hong Kong Commission on Strategic Development Advisory Body, is a board member of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Women’s Leadership Board, and has chaired and served on various not-for-profit boards including the Hong Kong America Fulbright Center. Fong has previously worked with Silicon Valley startup companies and served as a Visiting Lecturer and Distinguished Executive Speaker at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) MBA Global Leadership Course, having spoken on international business and policy matters before international audiences. Fong currently serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Hon Kwok Land Investment Company, and serves on the Remuneration Committee, the Audit Committee, and chairs the Nomination Committee. She is a member of the California State Bar, serves on the Advisory Committee to ChinaSF, and previously served on various philanthropic and commerce boards throughout Asia and the U.S. 

Janie considers her current role as a working soccer mom to her teenage Major League Soccer Academy player son one of her greatest joys and accomplishments.

Edward S. Kim, MD, MBA, FACP, FASCO is among the country’s foremost experts in molecular prognostication – which advances cancer detection and personalized therapies - for lung, head, and neck cancers. He has served as a principal/co-principal investigator on numerous studies and protocols and authored/co-authored more than 250 published articles, book chapters, and reviews in top-tier journals such as The Lancet, The Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Discovery, Cancer, Nature Medicine, and Cancer Prevention Research.

Dr. Kim has been repeatedly recognized among cancer care’s leading advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion. A respected clinician, researcher, and physician executive, he is a trailblazer who is eliminating practices that exclude minority populations from clinical trials and result in serious gaps in care and research.

Before joining City of Hope, Dr. Kim was the chair of Solid Tumor Oncology and Investigational
Therapeutics, the Donald S. Kim Distinguished Chair for Cancer Research, and medical director of the Clinical Trials Office at the Levine Cancer Institute, Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Prior to the Levine Cancer Institute, he held many leadership positions including associate professor (tenured) in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of North Carolina Kenan- Flagler School of Business.

A U.S. News & World Report “Top Doctor,” Dr. Kim has been recognized as one of the top cancer leaders in the nation by Friends of Cancer Research and twice honored as one of the nation’s Top 25 Diversity Leaders by Modern Healthcare for his work ensuring that clinical trials are more inclusive and representative of all populations.

In addition to his work on clinical trial reform, Dr. Kim is a champion for patients and their families, a sponsor and mentor, and a noted advocate and health educator for Southern California’s AAPI population.

Malea Emma is a 12 year old Asian American actor and singer. She is known for her lead role in A24’s feature film After Yang opposite Oscar-nominated Colin Farrell. She is also known for her recurring roles in iCarly on Paramount Plus and in Raven’s Home and Coop and Cami Ask the World on Disney Channel.

Her short film, Sunflower Girl, a coming-of-age short film through the lens of an Asian American girl where she is not only playing the lead role but she also writes and performs an original song for the film soundtrack, is currently making rounds at film festivals.

She just wrapped her latest project, an Indonesian feature film Dilan 1983: Wo Ai Ni  (where she stars, writes, and performs an original song as the movie soundtrack once again), which will be released later this year.

As a singer, she went viral after singing the national anthem at LA Galaxy soccer game in 2018 and since then she has been invited to sing all over the country at big events and major sport league games, including MLS Cup Final and NBA playoffs games. She was invited to perform on American Idol in front of the celebrity judges (Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan) and was awarded with the Golden Ticket that made her the youngest Golden Ticket holder in American Idol history. 

Allen Wang, age 12, is currently studying violin at the Colburn School under the tutelage of Joan Kwuon. Entering Colburn School CSPA at age 7, he soon after was the youngest violinist to receive the Colburn School Zipper Scholarship at age 8. He began the violin at age 5 with Joycelyn Choo. Aside from private lessons, Wang participates in several other musical ensemble groups including the Colburn Youth Orchestra, the Colburn Chamber Music Institute, the Irvine School District Honors Band (percussion), and the Los Angeles Children’s Concert Choir (voice). Wang also studies piano at Colburn School with Micah Yui and regularly performs with his younger brother Alexander (violin/piano). Last summer, Wang attended the Interlochen Arts Camp as a scholarship recipient.

Over the last few years, Wang has achieved several musical accomplishments including: winning 1st prize in the Primary Division of the  Bellflower Concerto Competition for Young Artists (2022), soloing with the Bellflower Symphony Orchestra (Bach A minor violin Concerto), winning 1st prize in the ASTA Bowed Strings Competition (Southern California), being featured as a “Collage” soloist at Interlochen Arts Camp, and most recently winning 1st prize again in the Intermediate Division of the Bellflower Concerto Competition for Young Artists and performed the Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto last month with the Bellflower Symphony Orchestra.

Currently, Wang is singing in Puccini’s Turandot at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with the LA Opera (with the LACC Choir). In the summer, Wang will return to the Interlochen Arts camp next month as a full scholarship recipient.

Wang is a 6th grader at Plaza Vista K-8 school, where is a member of the Concert Band, playing the percussion. In his spare time, Wang performs violin and piano at local public schools, nursing homes and busks on the Huntington Beach Boardwalk to raise funds for his musical endeavors and for charities such as ArtistYear (a nonprofit that is dedicated to addressing inequities in Arts Education for K-12 students). 

Kara Wang is thrilled to be invited back as the Emcee for the ASSC Annual Gala. A Los Angeles native, Wang is a bilingual and bicultural actor who has returned back to L.A. after 5 years of working in Asia. During that time, she acted in over 20 Chinese film and television productions, including Caught in the Web by the renowned Chinese director Chen Kaige. 

In 2015, Wang relocated back to L.A. She can currently be seen on Freeform's Good Trouble and Amazon's Goliath. Wang was also featured on the big screen as the lead of the Sony acquired independent feature The Calm Beyond as well as Top Gun: Maverick, and starred as the first ever Chinese American lead in the Hallmark Christmas film: Christmas at the Golden Dragon. 

As always, Wang is thrilled to not only be a part of the Asia Society family, but is honored to hold the ASSC MVP title. She is looking forward to joining the conversation of deeper collaboration and engagement between the U.S. and Asia.