Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra combines traditional instruments with an international sound

And now for something completely different... The finals of the Fourth International Conducting Competition for Chinese Music took place on the afternoon of Saturday 27 July at the concert hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre – the same venue that hosted the final concert of the YMCG (Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area) earlier this year. There are many conducting competitions globally, but his one is unique: not just Chinese music, but Chinese music played by a Chinese orchestra comprising Chinese instruments – in this case, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (HKCO).

While at first glance a Chinese orchestra may look similar to a Western orchestra, they are different as chalk and cheese. The string make-up (‘Huqins’ in Chinese orchestras)  comprises the Eco-Gaohu (they look like bowed banjos), the Eco-Zhonghu; the Eco-Erhu, the Eco-Gehu and the Eco-Bass Gehu. Musicians play specially manufactured Eco-Huqins (the Gaohu, Zhonghu, Erhu, Gehu and Bass-Gehu are created without the traditional python skin) which have been in use by the HKCO since 2009, while the bright sound of Chinese woodwind instruments and brass invokes ancient Oriental ceremony. Celina Chin (Celina Chin Man Wah), executive director at HKCO, explains: ‘It dates back to the Chou (Zhou) and Tang dynasties, there was already a very big orchestra, nearly 1,000 people, especially for the King.’ For Chin, the HKCO sound is ‘just like a cosmopolitan image of Hong Kong; the instruments are traditional Chinese, but the sound is international.’

Feng Tianyou was named the competition's first runner-up (Image courtesy of HKCO)

‘When the orchestra tours in the West, critics talk about how colourful the orchestra sounds,’ she says. As she points out, ‘Maestro Yan Huichang (the HKCO’s artistic director and principal conductor for life since 1997) received professional training in Shanghai in both traditional and Western techniques. You have to learn both. You have to know the culture.’. Huichang built a platform for young conductors, organising the first ever competition for Chinese Music Conducting in 2011. This is the fourth iteration of the triannual competition. ‘After 10 years we have so many important conductors coming from here,’ she says. One of the winners in the first competition, Sun Peng, is now conductor of the Wuxi Chinese Orchestra, in Jiangsu Province. The first runner up of the second competition, Rupert Woo Pak Tuen, is currently assistant conductor of the HKCO and resident conductor of the orchestra’s youth division: the Hong Kong Young Chinese Orchestra.

The HKCO operates under the mission of ‘radiating from Hong Kong to empower Chinese music throughout the world’. The orchestra has so far commissioned over 2,400 new works from both established and emerging composers, and Chin lays out plans to extend these new music initiatives: ‘We have a special project to nurture young composers. Every year we call for scores and pick the best ones, and the orchestra performs for them; next year we will extend this to secondary school students in Hong Kong.’

The HKCO looks at first glance like a Western orchestra, with strings at the front, and woodwind then brass behind. There are four sections: bowed-strings, plucked-strings, wind and percussion. New versions of traditional instruments are also used to extend the range of the orchestra (allowing for a deeper sound as traditionally the ‘cello and double-bass’ end would be omitted). A touring schedule brings the HKCO’s activities out to the world at large, from England to the Arctic Circle.

Executive director Celina Chin (left), alongside Colin Clarke and Tracy Huang, HKCO's head of marketing and development (Image courtesy of HKCO)

The 2024 competition is its first post-pandemic iteration. It operates in parallel with a series of 12 masterclasses in Chinese Music Conducting, and is open internationally: ‘For the second competition (2014), we had a candidate form Poland (Sebastian Perlowski) who won fourth prize, and we also gave him a special prize,’ says Celina. The event is carefully organised: There are ‘co-heads’ of the judging panel, and sets of observers (six for the final), ensuring the integrity of the process. Preliminary rounds were held in Shanghai (as video submissions); the second round was in the HKCO Recital Hall, with Raymon Mok’s Cycles of Destiny as the compulsory piece. Repertoire in the semifinals included Ravel dans le jardin chinois (arranged by Hui Cheung-wa, for the Best Interpretation of Works of Hong Kong prize) and the symphonic poem, Ruminations on Mount Li (Rao Yuyan).

All of which led to the finals. The winner wins $15,000 and a trophy, the first runner-up $12,000, the second runner up $10,000; plus, there are prizes for the Best Interpretation of Works of Hong Kong, the Audience Favourite, the Musicians’ Choice (voted for by members of the orchestra) and the Media Choice Award (voted for by the media professionals present, including myself). Going forwards, in Shanghai there is an association of Chinese orchestras which supports the competition, and winners are invited to conduct. There is a plethora of judges; the co-directors conduct in Taipei and the Chinese National Ballet; the remainder include previous competition winner Sun Peng, plus those observers from the media: ‘We want it to be best disclosure and fair competition’.

The three-hour final was meticulously put together. Competitors were judged on their interpretations of Go Wenjing’s Sacrifices-Torches-Potent Liquors (from Three Melodies of West Yunnan) and excerpts from Ng Cheuk-yin's Big Tree for Eco-Huqin and orchestra with soloists Mao Qinghua on Eco-Zhonghu and Wong Sum Ho playing Eco-Gaohu. The winner of the Best Interpretation of Works of Hong Kong, Guo Pan, had already been announced.

Guo Pan's second runner-up-winning performance saw her bring clarity and control to the competition repertoire (Image courtesy of HKCO)

As with a Western conducting competition, one heard the same music under several conductors sounding differently each time. Video films showed the contestants introducing themselves and a screen allowed us to see the conductors from the musicians’ perspective. The first conductor, Guo Pan, whose experience includes conducting the Shanghai Workers Cultural Palace Jasmine Philharmonic Orchestra, was very clear of beat, heard to fine effect in the accuracy of her performance of the Wenjing. Under her baton, the riotous colours of the second excerpt from Cheuk-yin's Big Tree (‘The Fire Dragon’) bloomed, yet she held firm control.

Second competitor Feng Tianyou has rich experience in Chinese music; he has participated previously in the HKCO’s series of masterclasses. He has a fine ear for detail, but his upbeats were repeatedly weak. In comparison, the first of the Big Tree excerpts, ‘The Island’, sounded more modern under previous competitor Pan.

Finally – and saving the best for last – Taiwanese conductor Huang Wei–chieh, who studied for a Master’s degree at Shanghai Conservatory (under HKCO artistic director Huichang). A performer himself, he clearly has full knowledge of the music from the inside out. I only question whether he needed a score for the Wenjing: when he did look down, it interrupted the flow and was clearly unnecessary. However, his was the clearest beat of all three candidates and vitally, he realises that less is more, so when he did allow the orchestra to go ‘full throttle’, it had maximal effect.

HKCO artistic director and lifelong conductor Yan Huichang awards the fifth competition banner to Wuxi Chinese Orchestra deputy director Huang Zhen and Huang Yang, secretary and leader of the Wuxi National Orchestra (Image courtesy of HKCO)

Wei-chieh was the deserved 'Champion’; Feng Tianyou the ‘first runner-up' and Guo Pan the ‘second runner-up', while the musicians’ winner, Chi Yuanyuan, came from earlier rounds of the competition.

It was fascinating to talk to the newly crowned champion after the event. In 2017, Wei-chieh joined the Suzhou Chinese Orchestra as an erhu player, and ‘after that I met Professor Yan (Huichang) and asked him if I could be his student; the Maestro right away said yes.’ As he points out, this music has been in his blood since childhood. So what’s his secret? ‘You have to notice everything. I trust the musicians, and they have to trust me.’ After being announced as the overall winner, Wei-chieh conducted Pui-fang's Flowing Water – now baton-less and freer of gesture than before – before Guo Pan conducted Hui Cheung-wei’s arrangement of Ravel dans le jardin chinois, a remarkable re-appropriation of chinoiserie.

The International Conducting Competition for Chinese Music has undoutbedly brought performers and audiences together in celebration of this extraordinary sound. Mmost of all, though, let us hope the achieves its goal of preserving and adding to this vital repertoire, and bringing it to global attention.

The finals of the the International Conducting Competition for Chinese Music may be viewed in their entirety here. Applications for the Fifth Competition close on 31 August 2025.