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Dear Friends, I must confess that I am still "recovering" from Robert Bonfiglio's whirlwind visit. It was amazing to hear the variety of sounds he could get out of the harmonica – we heard everything from classical to blues! As you will read in the Sounding Board section of this newsletter, all our Hong Kong listeners were captivated by his musicality. He played a total of seven encores including some excerpts from his Sam Hui and Teresa Teng CDs. Robert's larger-than-life personality also came out in rehearsals and interviews. There was a classic moment in rehearsal when he turned to the orchestra after we tuned and said, "I'm glad mine's tuned at the factory!" He gave a fabulous interview with Ben Pelletier in the "Morning Call" programme on RTHK Radio 4 in which he switched from speaking to playing with such ease. The interview is worth a listen to - just click here (start listening at 17:30 in the third hour of the programme). You can also listen back to the concert which was recorded by RTHK Radio 4 by clicking here. To read some interesting articles on Robert Bonfiglio published in the South China Morning Post and the Wen Wei Po click here. Soon after the Harmonica Americas concert we had to pack up our office at the Grand Millennium Plaza. Thanks to the kind support of AEDAS (http://www.aedas.com) we now have a fabulous office space on the 31st floor of One Island East, Quarry Bay. Click here for the details. Our move was kindly sponsored by Asian Tigers. Around this time last year the CCOHK gave a concert in Sichuan in mainland China, where we had the opportunity to be associated with the wonderfully warm people there through performing and teaching. The recent earthquake disaster is deeply saddening. Members of our orchestra, along with other eminent Hong Kong musicians, will perform in a charity concert on 25 June to raise funds for the earthquake victims. The concert is organized by the Hong Kong Chamber Music Society. For more information click here. On 12 June members of the CCOHK performed for the "New Generation 2008" concert at Studio 1 at RTHK Radio 4. The concert of works by young Hong Kong composers was conducted by Francis Kan, a former principal violist of the CCOHK who is currently the assistant conductor of the Macao Orchestra. The prize-winner this year was fifteen-year-old Johnson Leung Hok-kiu with his composition entitled "Galactic Fantasy". To listen back to the concert click here. On the subject of "New Generation" I am looking forward to seeing many young ones aged three and above at our world premiere of The Magic Jungle for the Hong Kong International Arts Carnival in July. To view the TV trailers click here (English, Chinese). Tickets are almost sold out, so don't leave it too late to get a seat! You can also try your luck by answering the questions in the Quiz section of this newsletter for the chance to win a free pair of tickets! Jean Bunton lived in HK for twenty-three years. This concert-staged musical is the culmination of her many-sided talents both as a writer of children's books such as Hong Kong Tales and as the composer of Longman's very successful "Phonics Fun" series which are now sold all over the world. The idea of The Magic Jungle came about last year when we recorded Jean's “Sing the Sounds of English" CD (now available from http://jeanbunton.com and during the Magic Jungle concert). Jean has a gift for writing melodies, so much so that my own two sons love her songs and often sing them spontaneously around the house. Kids are probably your toughest critics, so after our recording session I decided to commission Jean to produce a musical adventure for children based on a jungle theme. Jean then set about creating an exciting story set to fabulous music, and Bill Connor from Wales has topped it all with some amazing orchestrations. We have Matthew Hale as narrator/singer (back by popular demand!). He will be joined on stage by young performers Ms. Chu Pui-ying as Rosie and Mr. Benjamin Schrader as Tim. Mr. Chili Leung Wai-ho, a former monkey performer in HK Disneyland’s Lion King show, will feature as Max the monkey. The musicians will appear on stage face-painted as tigers, baboons, elephants, toucans, zebras, snakes and other such creatures. As you can see it's not going to be your average concert – but hey! Do we ever do "average" concerts?! Leanne Nicholls |
Director's Notes