Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra

Founded in 1977, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra has won the accolades as “a leader in Chinese ethnic music” and “a cultural ambassador of Hong Kong”. It is often invited to perform at famous venues and festivals all over the world, having covered Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and the Arctic Circle to date. It is therefore acclaimed as a leader among full-sized Chinese music ensembles in the international arena today. The Orchestra has an establishment of 91 professional musicians playing in four sections: bowed-strings, plucked-strings, wind and percussion. The instruments include both the traditional and the improved, new versions. The bowed-string section has been using the Eco-Huqin series developed by the Orchestra since 2009, and is capable of performing both traditional Chinese music and contemporary, full-length works in a variety of musical formats and contents. The Orchestra also explores new frontiers in music through commissioning about 2,300 new works of various types and styles, whether as original compositions or arrangements.

Apart from regular concerts and activities promoting arts education, the Orchestra has initiated several instrumental festivals, including the Hong Kong International Youth Chinese Music Festival, to honour its mission statement that “Music is to be shared”. Together with the citizens of Hong Kong, the Orchestra has achieved many Guinness World Records for having the largest number of people playing musical instruments at the same time. The Hong Kong Drum Festival, which the Orchestra launched in 2003, is now into its 16th year with no interruption in between, and has become a keenly-anticipated annual cultural event.

Striving to ensure the transmission and development of Chinese music, the Orchestra has organized many symposia and competitions. Notable examples in recent years are ‘The International Composition Prize 2013’ co-organized with the Luxembourg Society for Contemporary Music, and the ‘Chinese Music Without Bounds - International Composition Competition’ in 2017. They have been acclaimed as platforms for composers to publish their new works and for musical exchange. A milestone event is the world’s first ever ‘International Conducting Competition for Chinese Music’, which the Orchestra organized in 2011.

Other accolades and acclaims the Orchestra has won are its achievements in the arts, governance and administration, arts education, marketing and promotion. The Eco-Huqin series which the Orchestra developed has won not only the 4th Ministry of Culture Innovation Award in 2012, but also many other awards presented by various institutions for its green and innovative concepts. They add to the remarkable and highly commendable list of achievements in the history of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.

Conductor: Yan Huichang

Yan Huichang is a Chinese music conductor of world renown. He has been with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra since June 1997. He is the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor for Life at the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.

Yan Huichang was conferred the title of National Class One Conductor at the First Professional Appraisal of China in 1987. He has received many accolades from the governments of different lands in honour of his contribution to the development of culture, such as the ‘Cultural Medallion (Music)’ by the National Arts Council of Singapore in 2001, a Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) by the Hong Kong SAR Government, the Overseas Award for Music at the 51st Literary and Art Works Awards in Taiwan, and Best Conductor Award at the Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music 2018 in Taiwan. He has also won conducting awards as conductor in the audio-video recordings of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the China National Symphony of China and the Chorus of China National Opera House, the Chinese Orchestra and Chorus of the Xi’an Conservatory of Music, and the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan. He is currently Director of Chinese National Orchestra Research Center of the He Luting Advanced Research Institute for Chinese Music of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and a supervisor on its doctoral degree programme, Honorary Fellow of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Visiting Scholar in its School of Music, and Visiting Professor or Adjunct Professor in many conservatories, Council Member of Chinese Musicians’ Association and National Commission of China Federation of Literary and Arts Circles, Honorary Music Director of the Shaanxi Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra. Maestro Yan was appointed Music Director and Principal Guest Conductor of the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan in 2013 with a tenure up to 2017. His contribution to nurturing conducting talents in Chinese music in Taiwan is widely recognized.

Yan has led the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra to set many milestones in Chinese music. He and the Orchestra have been frequently invited to perform in arts and music festivals in various parts of the world, with artistic accomplishments widely endorsed. He launched the Orchestra into omni-directional growth, started the system of commissioning new works, actively entered into mutually beneficial partnerships with crossover disciplines, and spearheaded instrumental reform. His visionary achievements are reflected in such innovative initiatives as the Professional Orchestra Internship Scheme jointly implemented by the HKCO and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA); establishment of the world’s first Chinese orchestral academy, The HKCO Orchestral Academy; and organizing instrumental festivals which have achieved several Guinness World Records thanks to the keen participation of the people of Hong Kong. Yan created the Master of Music in Conducting for Chinese　Orchestras programme at the HKAPA. Also, he took the lead to organize international symposia and forums on Chinese music, and hosted the first ever ‘International Conducting Competition for Chinese Music’ in the world which was commended by Zhao Jiping, Chairman of the Chinese Musicians’ Association, as “a milestone in the history of development of Chinese music”.

The Chinese Orchestra of China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater

The Chinese Orchestra of China National Opera & Dance Drama Theatre was founded in 1950, which marked the first Chinese traditional orchestra at the national-level. The orchestra gradually formed a unique artistic style along with Chinese operas and dance dramas (Xiao Erhei’s Marriage， White Hair Girl, The Memory of Locust Tree, Liu Hulan, The Injustice to Dou E), and offers one of the most diverse music and stage expression abilities.

The orchestra is continually improving under the guidance of the renowned composer/conductor Liu Wenjin who served as the president of the theater since 1995. After years of musical innovation, the orchestra has accumulated a large number of well-known concert music works, which not only retains the essence of traditional Chinese folk music, but also contributes to the progress and development and innovation of national music. Under the impetus of Mr. Liu Wenjin, the orchestra began cooperation with Japanese and Korean musicians to form the “Orchestra Asia” since 2003.  Each year “Orchestra Asia” will give concerts in Japan, Korea, China and other parts of Asia, as well as being the acting orchestra for political events between Japan, China and Korea.

In addition to touring different cities in China, the orchestra is internationally recognized and has travelled to over 30 countries (America, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Turkey, Korea, and Japan) for performances and culture exchange. In 1998, the orchestra held a concert in the Great Hall of the People to welcome US President Bill Clinton during his visit to China. In 2013, the orchestra participated in “The Ninth Samarkand International Music Festival” and won the first place for instrumental groups in Uzbekistan.

The orchestra boasts a full-size traditional Chinese orchestra performing unique classical concerts such as, Prosperous Time Harmonics, Ten Famous Pieces, Chinese Opera Classics, Past Times, and Golden Melodies. Along with the larger concerts, the orchestra takes part in a variety of ensemble concerts such as, Moon Reflected in the Second Spring · Butterfly Lovers, and Blossoms on a Spring Moonlit Night. In order to develop Chinese traditional music in a more diversified way, the orchestra has explored audiovisual concerts, classical films, and television works such as, Four Great Classical Novels and Cartoon Concert. In 2005 the orchestra produced a new symphonic concert The Heroes that topped box office records multiple times. The concert perfectly combined traditional music with Kung Fu movies and TV plays.

Conductor：Tang Muhai

Tang Muhai is a world-renowned Chinese maestro of conducting. He is now the laureled conductor of China National Symphony Orchestra and art director of Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Tianjin Symphony Orchestra, and Harbin Symphony Orchestra.

Tang Muhai was born in Shanghai. He studied composing and conducting in Shanghai Conservatory of Music during 1973-1977 and then was hired by the school for teaching. In 1979, he won the scholarship and went to the master class of Munich Musik Hochschulle in Germany for further study. In 1983, at the invitation of Karajan, he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, starting his career as an international conductor from the peak of the international symphony orchestra. Besides Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Tang also conducted a number of other famous orchestras worldwide, such as London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris， Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Thanks to the cultivation by his father Xiaodan Tang, a great film director, Tang developed a special love to the opera stage art. He has had successful collaborations with the world's greatest opera houses, such as Teatro alla Scala di Milano in Italy, Zurich Opera House in Switzerland, Hungarian State Opera House, Frankfurt Opera House and Munich State Opera House in Germany, etc. During 2003 and 2008, he served as the chief conductor of Finish National Opera. During the Milan Expo in 2015, he conducted the new version of Rossini's opera Othello at the Scala Theater in Milan, Italy. With those seven performances, he became the first Chinese conductor performing at the theater in its 237 years' history.

He has successively served as the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of Belgian Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Lisbon Orchestra Gulbenkian, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, and Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also successively cooperated with more than one hundred world-renowned symphony orchestras and chamber orchestras as a visiting conductor, giving performances across the world. In recent years, he led a number of major European symphony orchestras to give tour performances around the world, such as Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, etc.