I had seen some posters in the MTR stations recently that advertised a young people's concert of some sort tonight at the HK Cultural Center. So I took the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui and walked over to the cultural center. Yes, they still have a few tickets--just chairs in the disabled seating area. I quickly bought my ticket for $150HK (about $19US). It was only about 7:00 PM and the concert will not start until 8:00, so I had time to get a sandwich and a cup of coffee at the nearby café in the cultural center. I then walked outside to the bayfront.
Wow! The buildings on the HK side of the bay were lit up even more brightly than usual. Some of them had laser lights shining from their tops. There were signs announcing a Light Show Preview, and it seemed that perhaps there was going to be a laser light show later in the evening. Too bad I can't be in two places at one time! After taking several photos I go back inside to take my seat for the concert.
The correct name of the concert was the Asia Pacific Junior Original Concert. It is sponsored by Yamaha, along with the local Yamaha dealer. The primary instruments used--piano and Electone (a music synthesiser/keyboard)--were Yamaha, and it seemed as if the performers came from Yamaha music schools. The concert featured 13 young people from ages 8 to 15 who performed their own original compositions. The winning compositions were selected from over 30,000 pieces of music. The 13 winners were from 11 different countries: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and the USA. It was one of the best events I have been to all year! These kids were absolutely unbeliveable! Their talent and poise was incredible, beyond mere words. You really had to be there!
The production of the concert was really something. There was a backdrop at the rear of the stage which contained two large video screens, and there were small video cameras placed near the instruments, so that regardless of where you were sitting you had a good view of the action. There were two emcees, a man and a woman, who perhaps were local TV announcers (I don't know), but who were really quite good. And the pacing was good, with very few delays. This was truly a professional presentation.
The concert started with a cute 9 yr old girl who played her piece entitled "Promener Avec Doudou", about a man walking his dog happily in the park. Yes, she really painted the picture well, and such poise to walk out on stage in front of a packed house! Another 9 yr old girl followed with a duet composition about Butterflies. An 8 yr old girl from Thailand performed her piece entitled "A Little Friend in My Dream", about a ghost that she sometimes dreams about. I could go on and on about each performance, they were all quite wonderful.
But there were a couple standouts. A 15 year old girl from Indonesia performed on the Electone, and it sounded like an entire orchestra! What an incredible, interesting and complex piece of music. As I remarked to the person sitting next to me, sign her to a recording contract right now! An 8 yr old girl from Mexico knocked everyong off their seats with her vocal and keyboard performance, complete with dance moves and Madonna style headset/microphone! For me the real star of the show was a 15 yr old girl from Japan who performed her own Piano Concerto (with the HK Youth Symphony Orchestra), a very nice piece about 12-15 minutes long, and who also performed an on-the-spot improvisation based upon a 6 note motif that was given to her while she was onstage. She turned it into a beautiful Chopin/Rachmaninoff style fantasy. Like I said, you really had to be there to believe it!
After the concert I went back to the bayfront. The lights were still bright, and the plaza area was still packed with people. Although a bit cool, Hong Kong was really showing it's world class style tonight! I took a few more photos (see next page), then got a ride on the Star Ferry to Central, and from there took the MTR home. What a great day!
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Go to Hong Kong Part 4, pg 10