Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra’s 5G Live Streamed Concert: Music from the Heart - A Tribute to Our Composer Forerunners

In its upcoming concert, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra have invited the conductor, composer and educator Richard Tsang to conduct the HKCO Ensemble in a programme Showcasing the unique and diverse musical landscape formed by Tsang himself and by three of his peers.

Tsang introduces the programme for this concert:

‘I am delighted that this concert can be held without a hitch. Past editions of the Music from the Heart series have focused on discovering young composers and providing them a platform to showcase their music. On this occasion, however, when the HKCO invited me to conduct, they suggested that works of our prominent figures be included as a tribute. I have therefore decided to include, as well as my own compositions, some outstanding works by three composers for whom I have the greatest respect.

For Saturday evening’s programme I have chosen Eternal Pine III (2012), a rare piece of traditional Chinese music composed by Professor Chou Wen-chung, a paragon of contemporary ethnic Chinese composers who was devoted to integrating Chinese musical ideas in his compositions. Eternal Pine III is imbued with a sense of nature and self-reliance, like a pine tree standing tall between the earth and the sky, and uses the lyrical timbres of sizhu (string and wind ensemble) instruments to emphasise the connections between all living creatures.

If Chou Wen-chung is regarded as the godfather of international Chinese composers, then Dr Doming Lam is most definitely the father of Hong Kong modern music. Saturday’s programme will include two of his compositions; Narcissus for small ensemble (2019) and Calm for quartet (2012), both exuding a rejuvenating and carefree playfulness. I am putting these two pieces on the concert stage again as a tribute to Dr Lam on his 95^th birthday this year.

The third musical beacon I have chosen to include is Filipino composer Professor José Maceda, who focused on expressing the interactive and naturally complex rhythms and scales of ethnic Southeast Asia to recreate nature through music. I have chosen Nan Guan for this week’s programme, in which Maceda overlaps layers of different metres and combines the timbres of different musical instruments to produce a distinctive texture.

Also featured on the concert programme are two of my compositions: One is Ling Kai, an old piece among the first batch of HKCO commissions in 1980. I adapted the piece in 2004 for nine players at HKCO’s invitation but has been a while since I last heard the original sextet edition, so I have arranged to revive it in this concert for the sake of comparison. The other is Tien Wen (2020), an HKCO commission from last year which illustrates the psychological impact of the Covid pandemic. The piece demands that musicians perform with heavy hearts, letting off all their pent-up resentments and inner conflicts as they play, before progressing to a quiet, redeeming catharsis.’

The concert will be broadcast via 5G and can be viewed on the Hermes Live platform. Commenting on this modern method of concert attendance, HKCO’s artistic director, Yan Huichang, comments:

‘We are grateful for the funding support from the government to upgrade the HKCO Recital Hall to enable 5G live streaming, allowing music fans to experience the emotion of Chinese music in the comfort of their own homes.

Thanks to technological advances, the acoustics and appearance of the Recital Hall all are not impacted by the installation of a 5G live streaming system and so the orchestra’s performance is not compromised. 5G’s high-speed, low-latency and multi-connectivity characteristics provides the audience with crisp images during 4K live streaming and so HKCO’s live broadcasts are no longer constrained by the venue and the platform.

We are very pleased to have once again invited renowned Hong Kong composer Professor Richard Tsang to bring you this evening’s tribute to our composer forerunners. Professor Tsang is presenting six pieces of music, four of which are outstanding compositions by beacons of Chinese music of the modern era. In performing their works, we pay tribute to these maestros and show our appreciation for the contribution they have made towards the development of Chinese music.

One of the other ensemble pieces presented in this concert is Professor Tsang’s Tien Wen, written when Covid was raging across the globe. Tien Wen is precisely the kind of music that portrays the sense of helplessness and impotence among the people, but we believe the music can, in the end, provide some comfort to everyone.

Going forward, HKCO will be offering performances in their newly launched HKCO Net Concert Hall. We look forward to welcoming everyone to share the beauty of music with us in the cloud.’

Tickets for HKCO’s 5G Live Streamed Concert: Music from the Heart - A Tribute to Our Composer Forerunners, can be found at the orchestra’s website, with the concert broadcast at the HKCO website.