Opening young minds to the world of classical music

Under the education programme, six afternoon chamber music concerts will run from February to June as free sessions open to students and teachers through school-based registration.

Of the series, Fung Lam, Director of Artistic Planning at the HK Phil, said that all the music chosen for the chamber music performances were carefully selected so as not to concentrate on just one or two musical periods, but rather to focus “on a whole spectrum of possibilities”.

He said: “If you look at the whole programme, you can see that we cover quite a large span of time and quite different and diverse musical styles.

“We want the programme to showcase the diverse world of music and to showcase the instrumental ensemble.”

The flagship outreach and education programme of the HK Phil has been exclusively sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust since the 2012/2013 season.

Evidently encouraged by the impact the programme has brought to the community, The Club’s Charities Trust recently renewed its exclusive sponsorship for another three years providing a grant of over HK$9.5 million to the HK Phil, plus a first-ever ensemble residency at Tai Kwun.

The continued commitment is seen as a significant step towards helping to raise public knowledge about classical music, and to enhance Hong Kong as a world-class cultural centre. 

“The ‘Jockey Club Keys to Music Education Programme’ has been successful in enhancing public appreciation of classical music,” Angelina Cheung, Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs of the HKSAR, who was the honourable officiating guest at the performance, said.

“Each year, over 40,000 school children have been able to enrich their musical and cultural knowledge and enjoy the finest music at the highest level through the free education activities of the programme.”

Indeed, that is the programme’s core mission: since its inception, more than 200,000 local teachers and students have benefitted greatly through the scheme, which has hosted more than 500 free events across the city. These have included school concerts, ensemble visits by the HK Phil musicians, instrumental masterclasses led by the company’s principal players and teachers’ seminars.

“Our goal is to bring the highest level of music to as broad an audience as possible in Hong Kong,” Lam said.

“Through the medium of music, we want to give everyone, especially students, an opportunity to explore things in music that they might otherwise have no chance to do.”

By having an ongoing chamber music series at such an iconic Centre for Heritage and Arts in Hong Kong over the coming three years, the HK Phil will have a wonderful, one-of-a-kind venue to present new musical experiences to students and the community by using different instrumental combinations and programmes.

“This is a very exciting new space – everyone is talking about it – and we will have the chance to present a new chamber music series here,” Lam said.

Unlike orchestral music, chamber music is a wholly different and exciting world in classical music, where music appreciation and performances are more personal, intimate and direct, so it is no wonder Tai Kwun is considered a wonderful space for the new season’s chamber music series.

“Our musicians really wanted to showcase to Hong Kong audiences the very interesting and exciting world of chamber music and we explored a number of venues,” Lam said.

“In the end, we found this auditorium. It was just perfect: an appropriate and exciting venue – and the size is perfect, which is so important for chamber music.”

Student and teacher audiences at the free afternoon performance certainly agree, saying that the small size of the auditorium means that no matter where you sit in the performance hall the experience is always perfect.

The cherry on the cake is that the audience can also easily interact with the inspiring HK Phil musicians and learn many things directly from watching them up close.

“This performance had such a direct impact on my students,” Helen Wong, a secondary school music teacher who attended with 12 of her students, said.

“For example, after the first piece, they were able to tell me that they thought that the playing technique of the trombone player was excellent.

“And the fingering was so fast – they got so excited because they had a real experience of sound and technique from seeing these master players.”

Wong, who is a big fan of the outreach programme, said it was invaluable because nothing can beat real-life learning.

And this is exactly what the programme hopes to achieve – to bring music appreciation to the next generation.

“The HK Phil truly believes that music enriches lives and brings joy and variety,” Michael MacLeod, Chief Executive of the HK Phil, said as he officiated at the performance.

He gave his sincere thanks to The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for its generous support and wonderful partnership over the years, and added: “Together with a significant subsidy from the Hong Kong Government, the HK Phil boasts a full-time annual schedule of core classical repertoire and innovative popular programming, extensive education and community programmes, and collaborations with other local arts groups.

“This helps inspire the community through the finest music-making, stimulating cultural participation in Hong Kong and enhancing the reputation of Hong Kong as one of the great cultural hubs of the world.”

Indeed, the HK Phil is not alone in hoping for a more cultural Hong Kong bolstered through music.

Wong said that while Hong Kong was getting better in terms of music appreciation, there was still a lot of room for growth.

Yet having HK Phil’s “Jockey Club Keys To Music Education Programme” meant that both students and the Hong Kong community could be exposed to all forms of classical music while also taking part in the learning experience – an opportunity that was “really good”, she said.