On the evening of May 15 and 16, the "Yu Long, Wang Jian and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Concert" supported by the Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Beijing (Beijing Office) and the Liaison Unit in Liaoning Province was staged at the Harbin Concert Hall and the Shengjing Grand Theater respectively, bringing a poetic and picturesque musical feast of Chinese and Western styles to friends in the two provincial capitals of the three northeastern provinces.
In addition to Harbin and Shenyang, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) also visited Wuxi, Shanghai, Wuhan, Changsha and Beijing to present a series of musical extravaganzas to celebrate the HK Phil's 50th anniversary.
The HK Phil has been hailed as one of the "Top Orchestras in Asia" and the Orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor Yu Long has been hailed as "the most influential figure in the Chinese classical music scene", and he has led the HK Phil to perform a number of Chinese and foreign symphonic pieces with renowned cellist Wang Jian, including excerpts from Bao Yuankai's "Yanhuang Style": "The River Flows", "Walking to the West Exit" and "Pair of Flowers", all of which are composed of Chinese folk songs, vividly depicting the cultural traditions of the Han Chinese people; Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Theme of Rococo shows the composer's talent for creating elegant melodies, with Wang Jian as soloist; Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World", is a collaboration between the folk songs of the Czech homeland and the vibrant sounds of the United States; And Rimsky-Korsakov's Arabian Nights has a colorful orchestration, vividly depicting the Arabic folk tales in One Thousand and One Nights with exotic melodies. Nearly 2,000 spectators from Harbin and Shenyang experienced this bowstring legend, immersed in it, and tasted the charm of Chinese and Western music.
Harbin concert scene
Shenyang concert scene
On 14 May, HK Phil conductor Yu Long and cellist Wang Jian and some HK Phil performers attended a sharing session co-organised by the Harbin Grand Theatre and the Harbin Conservatory of Music, where about 200 teachers and students from the Harbin Conservatory of Music shared the music stories of Longgang. On 16 May, HK Phil Second Deputy Principal Violinist Wang Liang held a violin masterclass at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, where he taught more than 50 students from the school's orchestral music department how to perform and handle musical interpretations.
Yu Long (standing), Wang Jian (third from left) and others attended the sharing session co-organized by the Harbin Grand Theatre and the Harbin Conservatory of Music.
Wang Liang held a violin master class at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music.
The Director of the Beijing Office, Mr Cheng Wai-yuen, and the Deputy Director of the Beijing Office, Mr Yuen Wai-yin, attended the concerts in Harbin and Shenyang respectively. They all said they were honoured to bring the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra to Harbin and Shenyang, two important cultural hubs in Northeast China, in the early summer season. Both cities have their own styles, but they certainly share a rich history and artistic scene. In the past year, the Beijing Office and the Liaoning Liaison Unit have invited a number of arts groups to perform in the two cities, demonstrating the strong attraction of the two cities.
The Director of the Beijing Office, Mr Cheng Wai-yuen, was interviewed by the media.
The Deputy Director of the Hong Kong Office in Beijing, Ms Yuen Wai-yin, was interviewed by the media.
Both directors pointed out that the National 14th Five-Year Plan clearly supports Hong Kong's development as an "East-meets-West Centre for International Cultural Exchange". In line with the direction of national development, the HKSAR Government is committed to promoting cultural and artistic exchanges and co-operation between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Since the beginning of this year, the Beijing Office has successively organised and supported various cultural activities, including the "Happy Spring" concert series, the "Wave of Light and Shadow: New Power for Hong Kong Films" section of the Beijing International Film Festival, and the Hong Kong Ethereal Dunhuang Orchestra's "Dialogue between Dunhuang and the Forbidden City: 2,000 Years of Flying Culture" – Sounds of Nature, Sounds of the Ground, and Sounds of People, etc., with the hope of promoting people-to-people bonds through literature and art, demonstrating the love of young Hong Kong artists for traditional Chinese culture to friends in the Mainland, and bringing wonderful cultural and artistic activities from the Mainland to Hong Kong and the world. Tell the story of China and Hong Kong through culture and art, and give full play to Hong Kong's important role as a "center for cultural and artistic exchange between China and the West".