Conductor takes his 'magic' to America and back

Conductor and pianist Lio Kuokman can still recall the first classical music concert he attended at the age of 4. An orchestra from Macao was performing, and the program included Brahms' Symphony No 2.

"I was so attracted by the sound of the orchestra and particularly by the 'magic' of the conductor. I came home and told my mother that I wanted to be the man with the 'chopstick' (baton)," recalls the 34-year-old Lio.

His mother didn't buy him a baton, but she took him to his first piano lesson the week after.