Voices of Harmony – Colour the Rainbow

The 2013 Hong Kong International Youth and Children’s Choir Festival

A report by the 2013 Hong Kong International Youth and Children’s Choir Festival Organising Committee

 

The Hong Kong Treble Choirs’ Association (HKTCA) proudly presented the 2013 Hong Kong International Youth and Children’s Choir Festival (HKIYCCF), in association with the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM) and the Chinese Society for Music Education (CSME), on 14-19 July. The HKIYCCF was initiated by Professor Leon Shiu-wai Tong, first Vice-President of the IFCM, Honorary President of the China High School Choral Committee and President of the HKTCA. The aim of the HKIYCCF is to promote choral exchange activities and to encourage singers and conductors to interact with one another, meeting world-renowned choirs in Hong Kong. However, the festival itself could not be run successfully without the efforts of over 200 volunteers and staff, together with 3,000 participants from 70 choirs from more than 20 countries.

The choirs from China, Chinese Taipei, Finland, Hungary, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Russia and the USA gathered in Hong Kong to join this international choral fiesta. The theme of the festival this year was ‘Voices of Harmony, Colour the Rainbow’. The rainbow symbolises hope; the idea of colouring the rainbow represents our growing hope and keeping our dream shining on the stage. The different colours of the rainbow promote the spirit of mutual tolerance and respect among people regardless of nationality and race. Music, as a common language across the world, brings happiness and harmony to everyone while reflecting the uniqueness of the individual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In order to promote choral music by broadening the repertoire and focusing on creativity, a theme song competition was initiated by the festival’s Organising Committee this year. Works by composers overseas and from the local area were received. The piece by composer Chris O’Hara (United Kingdom), We Dare to Dream, was selected as the festival’s theme song.

The 2013 HKIYCCF offered a rich programme: in addition to the ten competition categories and twelve concerts, there was a conducting Master-class and nine workshops. Six resident festival choirs, including the Cantemus Children’s Choir from Hungary; Club For Five from Finland; the Hong Kong Treble Choir from Hong Kong, China; the Just Vocal Band from Chinese Taipei; and the Shi-kai LI Lahu Family of Pu’er from the Yunnan Province, China, delivered wonderful performances in the Emperor’s Voices and the world-class Choirs Series concerts, leading the audience on an international choral journey. All twelve concerts were held in four concert venues with excellent acoustics. 

The Phoenix TV HKIYCCF Opening Concert inaugurated the six-day festival. Guests of Honour officiating at the Opening Ceremony included Mrs Regina Leung, wife of the HKSAR Chief Executive; Dr Michael J. Anderson, President of IFCM; Mdm. Barbara Fei, SBS, Permanent Honorary President of HKTCA; Mr Bin Wu, President of CSME; Mr Fung-kwok Ma, SBS, JP; Mr Bobby Wan, Deputy Head of the Phoenix TV Chinese Channel and Director of Programme Co-ordination; and Professor Leon Siu-wai Tong, Artistic Director and Chairman of the HKIYCCF Organising Committee. Representing choirs from different countries presented repertoires in the unique style of their homeland. The audience was impressed by their stunning voices and traditional folkdance. Two famous local pop singers, Miss Ivana Wong and Mr Edmond Leung, together with the Hong Kong Treble Choir, presented the songs Brother Song and We Are the World respectively.

Two salute concerts were held, dedicated to the outstanding Hong Kong choirs for their prominent performances in international competitions and their contributions to the development of choral music in Hong Kong. The C.C.C. Kei Wan Primary School Choir, Yuen Long Children’s Choir, Marymount Secondary School Choir and Yuen Long District Arts Committee Treble Choir were invited.

The 2013 HKIYCCF was unique in providing abundant opportunities for exchange among the participating choirs. There were three Friendly Concerts performed by participating teams of primary and secondary schools, universities and overseas choirs. The performers were also the audience, enabling them to learn from one another’s performances. At the end of each Friendly Concert, adjudicators from the professional jury panel gave comments to all participating choirs on how to improve. Furthermore, the leading adjudicators in all the categories shared their comments and suggestions with all participating choirs in the “Meet the Jury” session. As the name implies, choir conductors and members were able to meet the 26 distinguished choral experts and discuss questions or concerns about different aspects of choral music.

Professor Ji-yan Wang’s ‘Hear the Angels Sing’ photo exhibition was held during the festival to inspire more individuals by presenting the highlights of the choral field throughout the last ten years. A musical movie ‘37’ was shown to deliver the message of love and virtue through the breath-taking prairie scenery, the beauty of nature and the indelible children’s voices.

Mr Enrique Azurza, an adjudicator from Spain, believes that the festival is important as it provides the chance to exchange experiences of scores and music among choirs from all over the world, and it is a valuable opportunity for international choral experts to explore the choral field in Asia, China and Hong Kong. He was impressed by the highly ranked performances of choirs from Hong Kong and China. Mr Soma Szabó, an adjudicator from Hungary, believes that the festival is successful in bringing together young people from around the world and facilitating international exchange. Through the power of music, friendships and relationships were built.

 

Resident Festival Choirs

Club For Five (Finland) challenged conventional wisdom about the capabilities of the human voice. Their unique arrangements and original compositions combined jazz, pop and rock in such a chic and unique way that they created a musical genre all their own.

The Young People’s Chorus of New York City (USA) is a multicultural youth chorus, internationally renowned not only for its superb virtuosity and brilliant showmanship but as a model for an inclusive society that is being replicated globally. They received the highest honour for an American youth programme, the “National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award”, presented by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House in 2011.

Members of the Shi-kai LI Lahu Family of Pu’er (China) are all from the Lahu Tribe, in the Lancang Lahu Autonomous Country in Yunnan. They are passionate and talented musicians; they played a variety of folk instruments and performed the Lusheung dance –  a listed intangible cultural heritage in China. The song Happy Lahu, composed by the eldest daughter of the LI family, has become one of the most popular songs in China.

The Cantemus Children’s Choir (Hungary) is the international prize winning senior pupils’ choir of the Kodály Zoltán Primary School in Hungary. Since it was set up, the choir has achieved the highest standard in choral performance and has travelled extensively to give concerts, compete and take part in international festivals throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

In 2009, the Hong Kong Treble Choir (Hong Kong, China) received the Outstanding Treble Choir of China Award in the fourth China Treble Choir Festival. In 2010, the choir was offered the Gold Diploma and the Best Conductor Award in the eighth Cantemus International Choir Festival in Hungary. In 2012, the choir participated in the eleventh China International Chorus Festival held in Beijing, and was awarded the Gold Diploma in the Children’s Choir category. In the same year, the choir received the Champion Award in the Children’s category at the tenth International Festival of Choral Art, The Singing World.

 

Conducting Master-class

The conducting master-class of the 2013 HKIYCCF was hosted by Hungarian Maestro Dénes Szabó from the Cantemus Children’s Choir. Active participants had the chance to conduct the Cantemus Children’s Choir with the guidance of Mr Szabó.

 

Workshops

First-class musical experts from around the world gathered in Hong Kong to present choral singing workshops with various different themes.

 

Name	Speaker
Designing and training stage movement for choirs	Mr Francisco J. Núñez
Eastern European secular music	Prof. Theodora Pavlovitch
Rhythmic and atmospheric characteristics in Spanish choral music	Mr Enrique Azurza
Instrumental singing and vocal group rehearsal techniques	Club For Five
Filipino choral works	Mr Jonathan Velasco
Interpreting jazz choral music	Mr Francisco J. Núñez
Interpreting operatic chorus pieces	Prof. Yan Wang
Contemporary and traditional Estonian choral music	Mr Aarne Saluveer
Workshop for Chinese and Indonesian university choirs	Mr Soma Szabó and Mr Enrique Azurza

 

Awards and Prizes

The champions of each category competed for various grand prizes on the Prize Giving & Finalists’ Night. The Resonanz Children Choir from Indonesia received warm applause for their spectacular singing skills and stage performance, and were awarded Choir of the World, Outstanding Conductor Award and Best Stage Effects in the 2013 HKIYCCF.

 

Grand Prize	Recipient
Choir of the World	The Resonanz Children Choir (Indonesia)
Jury’s Prize	Binhai Primary School – Sound of the Sea (China)
Outstanding Conductor Award	Ms Devi FRANSISCA of The Resonanz Children Choir (Indonesia) Ms Joyce Chi-man YU of Heep Yunn School Choir (Hong Kong, China)
CASH Best Commissioned Piece	Piece: Hai Wan (The Bay) Composer: Mr Austin Ho-kwen Yip Lyrics: from Mr Cheng GU’s Hai Wan Performer: Heep Yunn School Choir (Hong Kong, China)
Mr Ka-ki Lee Memorial Trophy – Best Interpretation	Heep Yunn School Choir (Hong Kong, China) Performing Piece: Hai Wan (The Bay)
Best Stage Effects	The Resonanz Children Choir (Indonesia)
Musica Connection ‧ Friendly Concert I Audience Award	The Resonanz Children Choir (Indonesia)
Musica Connection ‧ Friendly Concert II Audience Award	The Resonanz Children Choir (Indonesia)
Musica Connection ‧ Friendly Concert III Audience Award	Golden Flute Choir of Liaoning Province Experimental School (China)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Category Prize	Recipient
A1 – Children’s Choir, SA voices (age 12 and under)	Binhai Primary School Choir – Sound of the Sea (China)
A2 – Children’s Choir, SA voices (age 16 and under)	The Resonanz Children Choir (Indonesia)
B1 – Youth Choir, SA voices (age 29 and under)	Candlelight Chorus of Shanxi Normal University (China)
B2 – Youth Choir, TB voices (age 29 and under)	Shanghai Yangjing High School Men’s Choir (China)
B3 – Youth Choir, SATB voices (age 29 and under)	Voca Erudita Student Choir of Sebelas Maret University (Indonesia)
C – Contemporary Music, any voice combination (age 29 and under)	Heep Yunn School Choir (Hong Kong, China)
D – Folklore, any voice combination	North-China Electric Power University – Blue-Power Pop Choir (China)
F – Ensemble Singing, any voice combination (age 29 and under)	Lam Tin Methodist Primary School – Musica Dolce Treble Choir (Hong Kong, China)
G – Primary School Choir, SA voices (local choir only)	Golden Flute Choir of Liaoning Province Experimental School (China)
H1 – Secondary School Choir, SA voices (local choir only)	Carmel Pak U Secondary School Choir (Hong Kong, China)

 

 

Lifetime Achievement Award

In appreciation of the outstanding artistic contribution to the development of local and international choral music, the 2013 HKIYCCF presented the Lifetime Achievement Award for Choral Music to Ms Barbara Fei, SBS (Hong Kong, China) and Mr Dénes Szabó (Hungary) from the Cantemus Children’s Choir.

Ms Fei is an outstanding figure in the vocal and choral field. She is dedicated to promoting choral music and developing interest in music among the youth of Hong Kong. She was awarded the “Bronze Bauhinia Star” and “Silver Bauhinia Star” by HKSAR in 2001 and 2012 respectively. Mr Szabó founded the Cantemus Children’s Choir in 1975 and it has grown into a choral institute, beginning to operate as an independent artistic organisation under his direction. He is a leading light in Hungarian choral music and presents Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók’s music in the most genuine way. He is keen on holding masterclasses in choral conducting, choral voice production and the implementation of the Kodály method.

 

Official Website for the 2013 HKIYCCF: http://hktreblechoir.com/hkiyccf/

 

Edited by Hayley Smith, UK