Dr. Lo Hau
Man, Composer in Residence
The Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia is a
distinguished group of 50 Hong Kong-based professional musicians
specializing in the performance of music written for wind orchestra.
Although Hong Kong boasts professional orchestras and chamber ensembles, until the
formation of the Wind Philharmonia in 2002, it has not had a professional
wind orchestra. Our primary goal is to perform wind music of the highest
professional caliber for a broad-based and diverse audience in
Hong Kong.
Wind orchestras delight and thrill
audiences and add richness to the public cultural life of countless cities
and towns worldwide, with an eclectic repertoire that ranges from the
familiar marches of Sousa to the most challenging modern compositions.
Yet, until the Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia came together in 2002, such an
ensemble was conspicuously absent from Hong Kong's musical scene. The
HKWPˇ¦s most important mission is to showcase this accessible and beloved
music, to bring it to the widest possible audience, of all ages, and thus
return a missing note to Hong Kong's cultural life.
The musicians of the Wind Philharmonia, who
all live in Hong Kong, have studied abroad
and most have held professional jobs around the world before returning to
contribute their talents to the cultural life of Hong Kong. Their dedication is reflected in the fact that nearly all of the
members are also music teachers, working at the primary and secondary
level. Concert Band music, of course, is a traditional adjunct to the
school curriculum, and our secondary goal as an organization, through our
performances and workshops, is to both inspire and educate
Hong Kong's future virtuosi. Young music
students were well represented in the audience of our debut concert.
Having a professional wind orchestra in Hong Kong, we hope, will inspire our students to seek a higher level of
excellence in their musical studies. Even more importantly, we intend to
use the excitement created by our planned concerts to enable us to
organize the Hong Kong Youth Wind Philharmonia, to operate under the
umbrella of the Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia.
Maestro Jerry Junkin, who has been named
our Music Director, conducted our debut concert in June 2002. Mr. Junkin
also currently serves as Artistic Director of the Dallas Wind Symphony, a
position he has held since 1993 and is also the Director of Bands at the
University of Texas at Austin. Performances
conducted by Mr. Junkin have been heard by millions of listeners through
radio broadcasts and on compact disc.
Since the highly successful and
well-received concert performances in the past year, the Hong Kong Wind
Philharmonia demonstrated wind band music's unique ability to entertain
and captivate Hong Kong people from all walks of life. The group also
aims to gain more widespread recognition which has already been
demonstrated by the invitation of the Macau Band Directorˇ¦s Association to
perform another successful concert in Macau which took place 7 September
2003. From this promising beginning, the Philharmonia aims to move
forward and grow, with future plans that include outdoor public concerts,
the commissioning of new works for the wind orchestra repertoire by local
composers, releasing a commercial recording on a major label, performance
in international band music festivals such as the WASBE (World Association
for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles) festival and concert tours. |