Remember LPs? Why internet helps young classical musicians surpass forerunners’ standards
- Hong Kong music professor Gabriel Kwok hails youngsters’ technique before his ‘GENK and Friends – Perfect Ten’ concert with nine of city’s veteran pianists
- December event, with Kwok and three other pianists who played at Hong Kong Cultural Centre’s 1989 opening, forms part of venue’s 30th anniversary celebrations
Today’s young classical musicians play to a higher standard than those of 30 years ago, says Gabriel Kwok, one of Hong Kong’s piano greats – and it’s all thanks to the internet.
“Youngsters today can easily get hold of music recordings, for example, on YouTube or via downloading, whereas when I was young, we had to buy LPs [long-playing vinyl records] and then CDs, says Kwok, professor and head of keyboard studies at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Youngsters today can easily get hold of music recordings on YouTube or via downloading … to get to know the great masters and understand more about how they play. This has improved the standard of classical music … especially at the technique level
“It’s now much easier for them to get to know the great masters and understand more about how they play.
“This has improved the standard of classical music in general, especially at the technical level. Today’s youngsters have an amazing technical ability – particularly in China,” adds Kwok, who was awarded the Medal of Honour by Hong Kong’s government in 2014 for his contribution to piano education in the city.
Yet music is not only about technique, he says. “Music must also have a message and reach people’s hearts. So, while their technical side is very good and you could say they have more ability, one’s musical side develops with age.
“[Young musicians today] have an advantage as they can expand and deepen their knowledge of music by easily accessing recordings of how the greats play, but this does not mean they will necessarily be more convincing in presentation. It’s also about talent – you either have it or you don’t.”
‘GENK’ is formed from the first letter of our four names … we played at the 1989 opening of Hong Kong Cultural Centre … now 30 years on we have invited [our] friends to join us, hence ‘GENK and Friends’
