Jessie Hong
About
The 2-min version
In Brief
Jessie Juexi Hong (方覺汐) is a Berlin-based marketing professional in the classical music industry. An international herself, fluent in German, English and Mandarin, she knows what it takes to build a career in a new market.
She has shaped the Berlin debuts of artists early in their international careers, such as Alexander Malofeev, Bruce Liu and Mao Fujita, and her digital campaigns have sold out Philharmonie Berlin concerts for artists including Gustavo Dudamel, Yuja Wang and Khatia Buniatishvili. Her campaign sold out Anna Lapwood's Berlin debut in five hours, along with both Berlin and Munich debuts of Hayato Sumino (Cateen). Her work also extends behind the camera, with documentaries on Leonard Bernstein, Lorin Maazel and Pierre Boulez, and artist interviews ranging from Avi Avital to Bomsori and Elena Bashkirova.
Jessie previously worked at Deutsche Grammophon and led the marketing at Konzertdirektion Hans Adler in Berlin, one of Europe's oldest concert management houses.
Full Story
The Longer Version
Originally from Johor, Malaysia and raised in a trilingual household, Jessie Juexi Hong (方覺汐) began her music business career with an internship at Sony Classical under its then long-time Vice President Michael Brüggemann, before joining Deutsche Grammophon, where she worked across project management and audiovisual production on the legacy of the label’s renowned artists, from Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein to Claudio Abbado, including the OPUS-winning Original Source Series. She later joined Konzertdirektion Hans Adler, one of Europe’s oldest concert management houses, to lead its marketing in Berlin at a pivotal moment, as the 108-year-old brand sought to reach a younger, more international Berlin.
Fluent in German, English and Mandarin Chinese, Jessie helps international artists find their audience in the German-speaking market, and helps local institutions reach the international one growing around them. She begins with what makes each artist singular, building campaigns that stay true to their artistic integrity rather than fitting them to a template.
She has shaped the Berlin debuts of artists early in their international careers, such as Alexander Malofeev, Bruce Liu and Mao Fujita, and her digital campaigns have sold out Philharmonie Berlin concerts for artists including Gustavo Dudamel, Yuja Wang and Khatia Buniatishvili. Her campaign sold out Anna Lapwood’s Berlin debut in five hours, along with both Berlin and Munich debuts of Hayato Sumino (Cateen). Her audiovisual work ranges from documentaries on Leonard Bernstein, Lorin Maazel and Pierre Boulez narrated by Jon Tolansky to numerous artist interviews for album releases and concert promotions, for artists such as Bomsori Kim, Elena Bashkirova and Avi Avital.
Beyond music, Jessie is a two-time European Business Game winner — taking first prize with L’Oréal Italy and first runner-up with Commerzbank — and a former appointed violinist for the Embassy of Malaysia in Berlin, invited to perform for the former Prime Minister of Malaysia during his official state visit.
In Jessie’s words
“I grew up in a home where I listened to classical music at least 12 hours a day: my parents installed speakers in every room, yes, including the bathroom, and the radio was never off. Studying music and the violin felt like the obvious path.”
“Then I won my first Business Game and realised something: I loved the creativity, the ideas, the seeing-what-lands. I didn't want to give up music for it — so I never did.”
“Classical music touches my soul. Marketing puts me on fire. Doing both, for people who've dedicated their lives to music, feels like exactly where I'm supposed to be.”