I understand you began studying for a medical degree – how did you wind up in a career in music?

I come from a family that encouraged both arts and sciences. My father and brother are health care professionals, and my mother is a singer. While I began my formal education following in the footsteps of the gentlemen in my family, I ultimately decided to pursue music. In my first year in medical school at the University of New South Wales, I entered and won the ABC Young Performer of the Year Award and released an album featuring the Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra shortly afterward. Bruce Dowton, the former dean of the medical school at UNSW, had a heart-to-heart with my parents in his office and persuaded them to give me their blessing for a career in music.

David Fung, Melbourne Chamber OrchestraDavid Fung. Photo © Neda Nevace

You’ve had great competition success here, of course, but also internationally. How did those experiences shape your career?

These major competitions each left their indelible mark on my career. The ABC Young Performer of the Year Award justified (if...