Professor Leung Bo-wah is award winning professor of music for his research in incorporating Cantonese opera into formal music curriculum. He received the prestigious Musical Rights Award from the International Music Council of UNESCO in 2011 as well as the Knowledge Transfer Award from the University (the then Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd)) in 2012 for his leadership in a research project entitled “Collaborative Project on Teaching Cantonese Opera in Primary and Secondary Schools”. During his tenure in HKIEd, Professor Leung has developed a teaching kit, Teaching Package on Creative Music Making in Schools, and a series of music textbooks for the general use of all schools in Hong Kong.

Professor Leung has published different research papers in leading journals and edited books including the International Journal of Music Education, Research Studies in Music Education, Music Education Research, Pedagogy, Culture and Society, and the Oxford Handbook of Music Education. His Chinese book, Teaching Creative Music Making: New trend for the new century (Excellence Pub., 2005), is Hong Kong’s first publication of creativity in music teaching and learning. A revised version of this book has been published in Beijing tackling the music curriculum reform of mainland China (People’s Music Publisher, 2014). His edited book, Creative Arts in Education and Culture: Perspectives from Greater China (co-edited with Samuel Leong, Springer, 2013) features the development of creative arts in the transforming region influencing the globe.

Other than his professional practice, Professor Leung is co-chair of the Research Commission of ISME and Board Member of Asia-Pacific Symposium for Music Education Research (APSMER), Adjunct Professor of Music at the Northeast Normal University, and co-editor of the eminent International Journal of Music Education and Asia-Pacific Journal for Arts Education. Professor Leung served as a Board Member of the International Society for Music Education (ISME), the Chair of the Music in School and Teacher Education Commission (MISTEC) of ISME, Subject Specialist (Education and Performing Arts) of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic & Vocational Qualifications, and the founding President of the Hong Kong Association for Music Educators (HAME).

Professor Leung received two General Research Funds from the Research Grant Council in 2011 and 2014, and a QEF grant in 2009. He received his BA in music and PGDE from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (1987 & 1991), MA in music education from Hong Kong Baptist University (1995) and PhD from the University of New South Wales (2002).