Wong

Sandra Wong, a native of Montréal, is a multidisciplinary artist active on both the Québec and international scenes in music, dance, voice, theatre, and stage fencing.

Training: A classical pianist since the age of four, she earned a Bachelor of Music from the Université de Montréal in 1992. She went on to pursue a master’s degree in ethnomusicology in Bali, Indonesia, where she studied, performed, and danced with leading Balinese masters. A founding member of the Kiri Kedaton gamelan at UdeM, she assisted guest professors for ten years—both in Montréal and in Bali—in teaching, repertoire research, and the development of numerous performances in Canada and the United States. A specialist in Balinese shadow theatre, she has performed gender wayang in more than 600 wayang kulit productions in Bali, the United States, and Canada.

Experience: Sandra has taught piano since 1977. An affiliated instructor at the École de musique Vincent‑d’Indy and a member of the Association des professeurs de musique du Québec, she also teaches voice, guitar, percussion, and dance. Since 2006, she has taught music for the Laval school board and has led shadow‑theatre projects for elementary‑school children. She currently teaches music at Saint‑Charles and Des‑Ormeaux elementary schools in Laval.

Competencies: Since 1989, she has collaborated with composer Michel Smith on theatre, television, advertising, film, and performance projects. Since 1996, she has served as production and touring director as well as multidisciplinary artist for Ensemble Karel. In 2010, Ensemble Karel evolved into a family ensemble under the artistic direction of Michel Smith, joined by their children Karel and Midori. Sandra Wong sings, dances, and performs on motorized sound sculptures and machines across Asia, Europe, the United States, and Québec.

She performed, arranged, danced, and sang Michel Smith’s music for five summer seasons in the production Kosmogonia in Shawinigan from 2001 to 2006. A member of the world‑jazz group Katjar from 2000 to 2006, she recorded a live album in which she developed her own personal musical language on piano, voice, percussion, and Balinese gamelan.

Since 2016, she has contributed as an actress, musician, and singer to the creation of a theatre work presented in a house setting, La Mondiola, by Julie Vincent. She composed the music in collaboration with Michel Smith.

Among the instruments she teaches—beyond voice, piano, guitar, flute, and percussion—are gamelan and shadow theatre, gender wayang, kebyar, semar pegulingan, angklung, gedé, beléganjur, kecak, and several others.

Sandra Wong teaches at the École préparatoire de musique de l’UQÀM, at the Laval school board, at the CAMMAC music centre, and in her independent studio.