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Dr. Lo Hau Man, Composer in Residence
The Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia is a distinguished group of 50 Hong Kong-based professional musicians specializing in the performance of music written for wind orchestra. Although Hong Kong boasts professional orchestras and chamber ensembles, until the formation of the Wind Philharmonia in 2002, it has not had a professional wind orchestra. Our primary goal is to perform wind music of the highest professional caliber for a broad-based and diverse audience in Hong Kong.
Wind orchestras delight and thrill audiences and add richness to the public cultural life of countless cities and towns worldwide, with an eclectic repertoire that ranges from the familiar marches of Sousa to the most challenging modern compositions. Yet, until the Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia came together in 2002, such an ensemble was conspicuously absent from Hong Kong's musical scene. The HKWP’s most important mission is to showcase this accessible and beloved music, to bring it to the widest possible audience, of all ages, and thus return a missing note to Hong Kong's cultural life.
The musicians of the Wind Philharmonia, who all live in Hong Kong, have studied abroad and most have held professional jobs around the world before returning to contribute their talents to the cultural life of Hong Kong. Their dedication is reflected in the fact that nearly all of the members are also music teachers, working at the primary and secondary level. Concert Band music, of course, is a traditional adjunct to the school curriculum, and our secondary goal as an organization, through our performances and workshops, is to both inspire and educate Hong Kong's future virtuosi. Young music students were well represented in the audience of our debut concert. Having a professional wind orchestra in Hong Kong, we hope, will inspire our students to seek a higher level of excellence in their musical studies. Even more importantly, we intend to use the excitement created by our planned concerts to enable us to organize the Hong Kong Youth Wind Philharmonia, to operate under the umbrella of the Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia.
Maestro Jerry Junkin, who has been named our Music Director, conducted our debut concert in June 2002. Mr. Junkin also currently serves as Artistic Director of the Dallas Wind Symphony, a position he has held since 1993 and is also the Director of Bands at the University of Texas at Austin. Performances conducted by Mr. Junkin have been heard by millions of listeners through radio broadcasts and on compact disc.
Since the highly successful and well-received concert performances in the past year, the Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia demonstrated wind band music's unique ability to entertain and captivate Hong Kong people from all walks of life. The group also aims to gain more widespread recognition which has already been demonstrated by the invitation of the Macau Band Director’s Association to perform another successful concert in Macau which took place 7 September 2003. From this promising beginning, the Philharmonia aims to move forward and grow, with future plans that include outdoor public concerts, the commissioning of new works for the wind orchestra repertoire by local composers, releasing a commercial recording on a major label, performance in international band music festivals such as the WASBE (World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles) festival and concert tours.
