Fund raising concert for Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society
10^th June 2007 City Hall Concert Hall

The evening started with a fine performance of Mozart’s concert aria from soprano Foo Foo Poon, with piano obligato played by Sou Hon Cheung and accompanied by our orchestra.  This rarely performed aria was well received by the audience.

The most recognizable opening bars of all piano concertos gave the audience dramatic notice that they were in for a treat from the Chinese pianist Li Wang, who now lives in Canada.  His superlative technique was convincingly shown in the 2 outer movements but it was the middle movement that revealed a master musician was only using his technical prowess for the music.  The audience was both electrified by his technique and moved by the tenderness of his touch which was again shown in the encore, Chopin’s Nocturne No. 20.  We were honored to have had such a world class artist playing with us.

After the interval the 2 Puccini arias once again showed Foo Foo’s versatility and great artistry.  The applause was both enthusiastic and prolonged.

Brahm’s 2^nd symphony followed.  This is both technically and musically difficult.  We rose to the challenge with everyone playing very well but credit must go to our concertmaster, Y. S. Liu, who led the strings faultlessly and of course our conductor K.K. Chiu masterfully conducted this symphony of complex structure.  No wonder the audience erupted into shouts of bravo and loud applause !

A Spring Evening with Saint Saens" - A charity Concert for Life Education Action Programme (LEAP)
at the Cultural Center Concert Hall on 22nd April 2007 

We had a wonderful evening of 2 of Saint Saens famous works.  It started with the Violin Concerto No.3 in B minor with soloist Danwen Jiang.  This concerto was said by Bernard Shaw as consisting of trivially pretty scraps of serenade music sandwiched between pages from the great masters.  However, Jiang, with flawless technique and superb musicianship, showed this is simply not true.  Her playin was both exhilarating and thrilling and the audience was spellbound by her performance and gave her prolonged applause.  Her playing of encore, allemande from Bach’s Partita No.2 in D minor,  music from almost 2 centuries earlier, showed what a versatile artist she is  .  Saint Saens 3 ^rd symphony (organ) is now a “classical pop” particulary having been used in the film Babe !  This symphony is a true masterpiece even among symphonies of other great composers.  Our members gave a most dramatic and gripping performance and overcame the difficult passages with incisive playing.

Fund Raising Concert on 20th January 2007 for the
Hereditary Gastrointestinal Cancer Registry of Hong Kong University (City Hall Concert Hall).

Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 - From the first notes Mary Wu played we knew we were in the presence of a top world class concert pianist.  This concerto was performed with supreme lyricism and both the audience and our orchestra were totally captivated.  The fearsome technical difficulties presented no problems (of course) and the tenderness in the Larghetto was spellbinding.   We shall treasure the C.D. of this performance when it is available.

Mahler Symphony No. 6 - Continuing our journey through Mahler Symphonies, the 6^th, once again, gave our orchestra more challenges.  This very personal symphony (Mahler’s Symphonia Domestica?) was both demanding technically and emotionally and as usual our orchestra was only complete very late in the last 2 rehearsals !

Nevertheless, during the performance all our members were again well focused and gave a memorable performance.  The audience was amused by the cow-bells but the 3 hammer blows wielded by James Roznos (of the Hong Kong Phil) with fearsome force certainly made a lasting impression on everyone in the City Hall. 

St. John’s Cathedral Concert on 12th December 2007 
Mozart Coronation Mass in C

This year we performed with the Pro-Musica Society Choir.    The Coronation Mass is a joyful pieces.        The 4 soloists sang beautifully with strong support from their choir and our orchestra.    The original orchestration had no violas but as we were unable to find a tenor trombone the violas played that part !

The whole evening’s concert, with Carols and Readings, was a moving occasion to raising money for the Society for Hospice Care.

Classics for kids Concerts on
10th December 2007 at Quarry Bay School 

This was another fun day for young children and those of us who arfe lucky enough to be young at heart.    Judging from the reactions (children moving to the rhythm of music and enthusiastic clapping) it was a most enjoyable occasion and of course credit goes to our M.C. Michelle Liu who once again very successfully encouraged the children to be very much involved.     No wonder both performances were sold out.

Programme:
J. Strauss Sr.          Radetzsky March                                            
J. Strauss Jr.           Pizzicato Polka                                       
Jacque-Offenbach    Can Can from Orpheus in The Underworld  
Mozart Horn            Concerto No.3     (C. C. Chow, horn)
Haydn                    Finale from Trumpet Concerto (K. K. Chiu, trumpet)
J. Strauss Jr.           Viennese Waltz                             
Schubert                 Military March                                       
Children’s Christmas March                                                
Christmas Processional                                                       
O Holy Night                                                                      
Christmas Carols

The Shanghai Quartet concert on
11^th October 2006 City Hall Concert Hall 

Beethoven String Quartet in C minor, Op.18, No. 4
Barber String Quartet, Op.11
Dvorak String Quartet No.14 in A flat major, Op.105

Once again the shanghai Quartet distinguished themselves with a superlative performance and reminded us (if that were needed) that they are amongst the top string quartets in the world.

The youthful Beethoven (Op.18, No.14) was played with humour and zest and was an absolute joy.   The Barber Op.11 not familiar territory for most of the audience except for the Adagio which was simply perfect in both intonation and emotional control.  The evening was rounded off with a boisterous and very Bohemian performance of Dvorak’s Op.105.   The contrast in style of all 3 quartets was remarkable.    A most enjoyable evening.

Fund Raising Concert for the Samaritan Befrienders of Hong Kong on
29th October 2006 (City Hall Concert Hall).

The first half of the concert was all Gershwin.  Our orchestra was again facing unfamiliar repertoire as most of us are not used to “jazzing it up” !  The concert opened with the Cuban Overture.  The Carribean rhythms and percussions gave a lively sound picture of Cuba in the 1930s.  The scoring favoured the winds and percussions and this was enthusiastically matched by our players.  The audience were pleasantly surprises by this rousing overture.

Porgy & Bess Symphonic Picture opened gently but the lively xylophone introduced a host of familiar tunes (Summertime etc) and this was soon taken over by the banjo played by our multitalented Richard Poon (Violin, Mandolin and Guitar on previous performances).

An American in Paris was the last piece before intermission.  Again there were humorous surprises in orchestration and the Parisian taxi horns took the limelight.  All in all a most invigorating first half.

We are in a different musical world in the second half.   Once again Robert Roux showed his mastery of the piano and superb musicianship.  A very thoughtful Chopin Piano Concerto No.2 and the flawless technique was there at the service of music.  What a treat for everyone in City Hall.  The 3 encores were given thunderous applauds too.  We look forward to November 2007 when Robert returns.