Music Director and Founder of the Vancouver Pops, Tom Kuo is a Vancouver-raised violinist, violist, music educator and conductor. 

After finishing music school and working as a full time instructor, Tom was inspired to create something different that his students and amateur musicians might enjoy more. He wanted to focus on ensemble experiences—making music together with others, because having companions on stage with you gives you more confidence and bring out your best. He wanted musicians to experience performing in front of real audiences (not just friends and family) and to present music that’s nostalgic, theatric, and inspiring (Hollywood, Disney, Broadway).

In 2010 it was just a handful of high school students playing together to the tune of "All I Want For Christmas is You". Now in 2026, we have over a hundred musicians and singers coming together to recreate the amazing movie soundtracks and Broadway show tunes. Over the past 15 years, Tom has led the VPOPS Orchestra and Choir through dozens of concerts in the lower mainland, plus two tours to New York City, one tour to Tokyo, Japan, and one to London, UK.

Grateful for his amazing team, all the performing members, and all the support the organization has received, Tom makes sure that new and returning members are welcomed to Vancouver Pops with warmth and enthusiasm.

In his spare time, Tom enjoys being active through tennis and volleyball. He also enjoys being outdoors spending time on a hike, at a lake, or going camping. He dabbles in the kitchen regularly and occasionally takes on a DIY woodworking or home improvement project.

Tonight’s “Star Wars” concert marks the beginning of Gilbert’s 5th season with the Vancouver Pops Orchestra. Praised by the Kharkov Times as being "accurate and precise", Gilbert Sak is an active Canadian musician, educator and conductor. He has guest conducted the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, Berlin Sinfonietta, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, and the Kharkov Philharmonic. He has collaborated with such artists as Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway, Paul Champion and Iskander Widjaja, and pop singers as the Grasshopper, Hacken Lee, Angela Zhang and Vincy Chan. After premiering compositions written by twelve Chinese female composers, he was praised by Takung Pao (Hong Kong) as a "conductor who can command the whole stage.”

Gilbert founded the Hong Kong Civic Youth Orchestra and served as the Music Director for 10 years. He was the Principal Conductor of Hong Kong Metropolitan Pop Orchestra from 2016 to 2019, and he has worked with various choral groups in Hong Kong. While serving as an adjunct lecturer at the Hong Kong Baptist University, he conducted the University's String Ensemble, Repertory Orchestra and Women’s Choir. From 2017 to 2019, he was the conductor and presenter of "Orchestrate" in Hong Kong, a challenging team building program developed by Catalyst Team Building.

Gilbert studied conducting with Glen Cortese and Leonard Atherton, and participated in masterclasses by Michail Jurowski, Vladimir Ponkin and Colin Metters.  He is the first Hong Kong native to receive a doctorate in violin performance. He has studied in Germany, England and in the USA under the tutelage of world-famous violinists and pedagogues including Michael Goldstein, Albert Markov, Yfrah Neaman, Petru Munteanu and Dr. John Bauer. As a violinist/violist, he has held principal positions in orchestras and has toured to China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Finland. He joined the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong in 2001 as Principal 2nd Violin and subsequently became a Co-leader. Currently, he is on the faculty of the Richmond Music School where he teaches violin, viola and chamber music. He is also the founding music director of the newly established Burnaby Harmonious Sinfonia, the only community orchestra in Burnaby.

Besides teaching and making music, Gilbert enjoys distance running and playing table tennis. He is also a member of Mensa Canada.