Hong Kong Cultural Centre
On Monday night I took a break from reading and indulged myself in one of my other pleasures: music. A neighbour of mine in the village had been so impressed with the singing of some slightly inebriated members of The HKG Welsh Male Voice Choir (yes, there really is a HK Welsh Male Voice Choir), throughout the course of the recent Hong Kong Sevens Tournament, that when she saw an ad in a local magazine for a concert featuring said choir, she asked me if I fancied going along too. 'Of course, why not!' said I, always ready to do something slightly different than stay indoors on a wet Monday evening. So off we trotted to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. The building itself is very impressive and the list of upcoming concerts quite amazing, everything from Swan Lake to Sing-a-long evenings, quite something.
Foyer at HKCC advertising all the upcoming events.
The concert Hall itself was a sight to behold and for two hours we were entertained by three choirs, including the boys from Wales and two a cappella groups.
The Concert Hall
My favourite group of the evening were the HKFYG Hong Kong Melody Makers. This is a youth choir established in 2004 by the Hong Kong Federation Youth Groups and sponsored by the Dragon Foundation.It's aims are to reflect Hong Kong's vivacity and give voice to the city's cosmopolitan spirit. Choir members are young people with outstanding artistic talent whose passion for music benefits the community. As well as performing live in concert the Melody Makers often take their show on the road and offer free concerts around Hong Kong. Take a look at these links here to see an example of their work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIKkY54AM1Q Melody Makers free public concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu4mF-KeevQ Melody Makers singing about barbecue pork buns
As well as Melody Makers and The HK Welsh Male Voice Choir we were entertained by Kassia Women's Choir, enthralled by Soho Collective (a female a cappella group) and delighted by Kassia Children's choir - Hullaballo who sang their little hearts out. A thoroughly enjoyable evening and now I am going to look out for the next appearance of Melody Makers.
It sounds like you had a lovely time! The cultural centre looks brilliant! Hope that you have a lovely weekend!
ReplyDeletewhat a cultured evening! hong kong--wow--so exotic! my dad lived there in the 1960s and attended kgv. he hasn't been back because his health isn't 100%, but talks of it fondly. i'll have to pass along your link so he can see some of the local interest things you discuss. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Dot, we did have a lovely time and it was well worth taking two boat rides to get there (we live in the country and have to take the ferry to Hong Kong Island). Hope you have a lovely weekend too and get on with some more of the wedding planning. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteBooklineandsinker, I do love living in Hong Kong and can understand why your dad speaks so fondly of it. Shame he can't travel these days but there is a book he might enjoy which is all about Hong Kong in the mid 1950's. I reviewed it in April, it is called Gweilo by Martin Booth. Booth spent three years here when he was a child and this book is his memoir of that time. It is a lovely read and describes the place with such clarity you could almost be here. Things have changed a lot since then which is why the book is such a great testiment to times gone by. Hope you find it.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to chat, thanks for dropping by.