The joint concert performed by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra on March 5 was more like a birthday party than a concert, as it marked the 40th anniversary of the Hong Kong City Hall, the first multi-purpose cultural complex ever built for the Hong Kong community.

"The Hong Kong City Hall is the cradle of Hong Kong's arts and culture," said Lam Woon-kwong, Secretary of Home Affairs for Hong Kong. "It has witnessed the development of the local culture and art scene and has also nurtured countless artistic talents."

The first City Hall in Hong Kong was founded in 1869, which at the time was considered the emergence of public spirit in the colony, as well as an expression of the community's active participation in building cultural facilities in the 19th century Hong Kong.

The old City Hall continued to serve as a center for civic events in the first half of the 20th century, until 1947 when it was demolished.

The foundation stone of the present City Hall was laid in 1960. March 2, 1962 saw the inauguration of the new City Hall, which includes a main building, a concert hall, a theatre, a high block and a memorial garden.

Throughout its history of 40 years, the City Hall has been instrumental in bridging the arts of the East and the West and developing a cultural life in Hong Kong.

To date, more than 10,000 arts troupes, local as well as overseas, have performed here.

Many landmark cultural events in Hong Kong were launched here, such as the Hong Kong Festival of the earlier years, the first Hong Kong Arts Festival in 1973, the first Festival of Asian Arts in 1976, the first Hong Kong International Film Festival in 1977, and the first International Children's Arts Carnival in 1982.

Wellspring of orchestras

The City Hall was also the cradle of the two leading local orchestras: the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra turned professional in 1974. But its history can be traced back to November 1895 when a symphony concert was organized under the name of the "Philharmonic Society" at the Theatre Royal of the Old City Hall with George Lammert conducting.

The "Sino-British Orchestra" later evolved from the "Philharmonic Society," and became the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957.

The inauguration of the City Hall marked a milestone in the development of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. The first concert at the new City Hall Concert Hall was given by the orchestra on April 12, 1962.

The concert featured mainly Handel's "Messiah," with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra working with the newly formed Hong Kong United Christian Choir, under the baton of the famous English conductor Thomas Armstrong.

"I was thrilled to know that I no longer needed to go to the University of Hong Kong, Queen's College and the Diocesan Boy's School to attend concerts, because concerts constituted an important part of my life," said Hong Kong-based writer Liu Ching Chih.

At the concert on March 5, under the baton of Samuel Wong, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra performed again selections from Handel's "Messiah," featuring Soprano Katusha Tsui-Fraser, Mezzo-soprano Cynthia Luff, tenor Warren Mok, Bass Michael Rippon and the Opera Society of Hong Kong.

Before going professional in 1977, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra was an amateur ensemble group, just like the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Its history can be traced back to 1972 when pipa (four-stringed plucked instrument) artist Lui Pui-yuen lined up 15 Chinese musicians to perform in six concerts in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Hong Kong City Hall.

The ensemble was officially named the "Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra" at the end of 1973.

From 1977 to 1997, the number of commissioned compositions and rearrangements by the orchestra reached 1,353. Many of them have become part of the orchestra's regular repertoire, such as Doming Lam's "Autumn Execution"(1978), Chan Pui-fan's "Ode to the Snow"(1981) and Law Wing-fai's "A Ballad for Two pipa and Orchestra"(1989).

"The commissioning mechanism not only gave music composition in Hong Kong a shot in the arm, but also provided a large quantity of contemporary works for concert performances," said Liu, "as a result of which it enriched the repertoire of the orchestra and other Chinese orchestras on the mainland and Taiwan."

The first half of the anniversary concert was performed by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, conducted by its music director Yan Huichang.

The program included two works by the orchestra's previous music directors: Ng Tai-kong's "Chance Encounter" and Kuan Nai-chung's symphonic poem for Chinese orchestra, "Prelude."

With the Allegro Singers and Student Chorus, the Student Union and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the orchestra also performed chorus works such as "Alamuhan" and "The Far-away Place."

In the second half, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra started with Shostakovich's "Festive Overture" and concluded the concert with Beethoven's "Ode to Joy."

Consisting of both Chinese and Western music works, the joint concert signified Hong Kong's cultural scene -- a bridge between Chinese and Western arts.

A series of special programs will be held in the coming 10 months to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Hong Kong City Hall. They include performances, exhibitions and arts promotion activities.

First among these programs is the "Growing with time -- Hong Kong City Hall Retrospective Exhibition," at the exhibition hall of the City Hall, which started on March 7 and will run till March 24.

(China Daily March 20, 2002)