Hong Kong Children’s Symphony Orchestra set for historic Vienna debut alongside renowned boys' choir
The touring youngsters aged eight to 17 will perform with the city's renowned boys' choir, who will be hosted in Hong Kong in October
The city's young musical ambassadors will make a historic debut at the world's classical music centre next week to kick-start a cultural exchange with their world-renowned counterpart.
The 62-member Hong Kong Children's Symphony Orchestra will perform next week with the renowned Vienna Boys' Choir in the Austrian capital. The four concerts in Vienna and Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, will constitute the second leg of an extensive tour by the youth ensemble after their acclaimed performances in Los Angeles and Taiwan last month.
"This is the first time our young musicians have been invited to take part in an official capacity representing Hong Kong in a cultural exchange programme with Austria," said Yip Wai-hong, 84, who founded the orchestra in 1996, before he and the group departed on Sunday.
The children's orchestra, whose members are aged eight to 17, will perform with the Vienna Boys' Choir in two concerts starting next Tuesday at MuTh, the home of the five-century-old Austrian choir. Jimmy Chiang - a former student of Yip - will be the conductor.
Hong Kong will play host to the Vienna Boys' Choir in October under the baton of Chiang.
The Vienna concerts will showcase soloists Lukas Sternath of the Vienna Boys playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No 23 and Macy Yau Chin-yu of the children's orchestra playing the Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto.
But the highlights will be the famous Blue Danube waltz plus one other work closely associated with Vienna.
"I've learned that Brahms wrote his second symphony at a lake near Vienna, and I really want to be there to feel it as my orchestra performs it there," said Jerry Lam Chun-lik, the orchestra's concertmaster, who will also be the soloist in Summer from Vivaldi's Four Seasons.
"I am the only child in the family but being a leader in the orchestra helps me to know how to take care of others for a common cause," the 17-year old added.
Athena Shiu Suet-yin, a 12-year old violinist and multiple-award winner, said orchestral playing instilled discipline applicable to schoolwork.
"It requires very intense focus in playing from the music scores, and that training is beneficial to my study," she said.
Her nine-year-old sister, Bernice, is also a violinist. She said she preferred playing in concerts rather than visiting Disneyland in Los Angeles.
Their mother said: "They have become more disciplined and quick in response thanks to orchestral training at a young age, and they are happier."
Another violinist, Benedict Wong Sum-yin, appreciated the opportunity to tour with a team of musicians.
"Dr Yip often tells us even if we don't take music as a career, we should become a patient and sincere person through the music we play," he said.
Of some 800 alumni, Yip estimated that only 5 per cent or so became career musicians, such as former concertmaster Andrew Ling, who is now principal violist at the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and former cellist Elim Chan, now assistant conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra.
"The process to success is long and youngsters have to work very hard to nurture discipline, which sometimes they find difficult," Yip said.
Managing smartphones is a case in point.
"We have to take away all their phones before a concert or a reception and return them only after the event is over. We need to be respectful to the occasion and our hosts or guests," he said.
"Orchestral music is such a delicate art form that it requires a high level of mental discipline. It's no coincidence quite a number of my students have become doctors and lawyers."
