Dancing With The Stars musical director Chong Lim is one of Australia's mostexperienced musicians, working as a producer, musical director, arranger, keyboardist, sound programmer and composer for internationally renowned talents.
While he had been playing piano since the age of seven, Lim had never touched a synthesizer until he was 20. He began playing in bands while studying Mechanical Engineering at Melbourne University, getting his first break by joining Venetta's Taxi and then The Eurogliders.
This culminated in getting a seat in John Farnham's band in 1994 and, most famously, becaming Farnham's musical director. Chong has worked in the music business now for over 20 years, turning his passion for music into a lifelong career. He has heard his work played at the Olympic Games and felt the excitement of being on stage in front of tens of thousands of people. His work has flowed over into television, working on some of Australia’s highest-rating television programs.
He has also worked with the who’s who of music, including Kylie Minogue, Olivia Newton-John, Tina Arena, Paul Kelly, Dame Edna Everage, Sir George Martin, Boz Scaggs, Jermaine Jackson, Anthony Callea, Delta Goodrem, Tina Arena, and Christine Anu. Chong was involved in both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and he was musical director and composer for the recent Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
His passion for music turned to television when he signed on as musical director on the television program Don't Forget Your Toothbrush. Since then he has appeared on countless television programs and celebrated his tenth year as musical director for the Logie Awards.
Lim is more prominently known for his work as musical director on Dancing With The Stars which he has been involved with since it premiered. Chong was also the musical director for It Takes Two. He was the musical supervisor for the stage production of ‘Dirty Dancing’ and also helped orchestrate Guy Sebastian’s album Taller, Stronger, Better while Guy was starring in the first series of It Takes Two.
Later that same year, Chong also composed music for the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
He produced David Campbell’s hit album Swing Sessions with a full orchestra, recorded mostly live. The pair reunited to produce Swing Sessions 2, going platinum and reaching the Top Ten on the ARIA charts.
Chong has also produced David Hobson’s album The Promise, was Music Director and composer for Citrawarna, a Malaysian cultural event in Kuala Lumpur May 2007 and worked on Kylie Minogue’s H&M Shanghai Launch April 2007.
Last year, Chong Lim was made an Australia Day Ambassador.
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