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Joint-University Charity Concert: Music Heals Japan

30 May 2011

 

The Hong Kong University Students' Union is proud to present the Joint-University Charity Concert: Music Heals Japan, a charity event involving student unions from 10 tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, featuring a historical collaboration among 14 orchestras, choirs and music societies with more than 100 musicians from the institutions.

The Concert will be held in the evening of June 21 (Tuesday) and June 22 (Wednesday) in Loke Yew Hall of the University of Hong Kong.

The programme of the concert is specially designed to literally depict the transformation of Japan from calamity to light. Beginning with the traditional Japanese folksong, Sakura sakura, the concert sets the scene firmly in the culturally prosperous Japan. The programme is followed by Rutter's Requiem to bring in the message of hope and comfort The concert will end with a series of positive and light-hearted popular classics to be joined by the audience, including "Over the Rainbow".

Proceeds of the concert will be donated to the Salvation Army and World Vision Hong Kong after deducting administrative expenses.

The Origins of the Concert

This historical collaboration of over 24 organizations originated on a rather routine Monday lunch in late March, when three HKU students, Sean LI, Flavian LUK and Sharen LAU witnessed the tragedy in Japan on television in HKU. An initiative to assist the reconstruction efforts of Japan through the combined compassion of university students was quickly established, as the trio began soliciting support from like-minded individuals in HKU and beyond.

The leader of the gang, Sean LI, started a similar event in aid of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan three years ago in the University of Hong Kong which enjoyed considerable success. Believing in the unity and sympathy of university students, the trio have faith that such a blessed event can be relived to a greater scale involving the major universities in Hong Kong, thus proceeded to solicit support from the Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU).

Believing in the meaningfulness of the event, the idea was met by the encouragement and support of HKUSU's president, Mr. James LI. The trio quickly gained the generous administrative and financial support of the HKUSU, and an Organizing Committee, consisting more than 10 HKU students from an array of academic disciplines was formed without delay. Liaising 24 student-run institutions was indeed a strenuous task faced by the committee, but with the victims of Japan in mind, they went forward nonetheless.

The result was surprising. Originally expecting a lukewarm response, the student unions and music organizations alike responded positively and without hesitation. Within a month, the event accumulated from a gang of three to a congregation involving multiple parties in diverse disciplines.

The Musicians

The Concert will feature a coalition of 14 orchestras and choirs with the same vision. Stand united as "The Hong Kong Joint-University Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir" (HKJUPOC), the joint-university ensemble will be conducted by Sean LI, the founder and Music Director of the Hong Kong Festival Orchestra and Sharen LAU, the former choirmaster of the Hong Kong University Students' Union Choir.

The Concert will feature the famous local sopranos, Ms Yuki IP and Ms Jeffie LEUNG.

The Programme

The programme is designed to literally depict the transformation of Japan from calamity to light. Beginning with the traditional Japanese folksong, Sakura sakura, the concert sets the scene firmly in the culturally prosperous Japan. The nostalgic tune is immediately followed by Barber's Adagio for Strings, an iconic and elegiac piece that mourns for the dead. The hearts of the audience will no doubt be lifted in the fourth movement of Brahms's Symphony No.1, a piece most often cited as the counterpart to Beethoven's Symphony No.9, focusing on the concepts of hope and the power of men united.

After the graphic depiction of the hope for Japan's reconstruction, the programme is followed by Rutter's Requiem. Though it necessarily has its dark moments, Rutter's Requiem is unmistakably optimistic in its message of hope and comfort, expressed through the beauty of the chosen texts and Rutter's uplifting music. Unlike the requiems of Mozart and Verdi, which put a greater emphasis on God's wrath, Rutter's Requiem was intended as a consolation of the bereaved. The concert will end with a series of positive and light-hearted popular classics to be joined by the audience, including "Over the Rainbow".

Concert Details

The Concert will be held on 21 (Tue) and 22 (Wed) June 2011 in Loke Yew Hall, the University of Hong Kong. Tickets will be available from 17 May 2011 onwards via HK Ticketing outlets (including Venue Box Offices and Tom Lee Music Stores). The ticket prices are $500, $300, $200 and $100HK. Proceeds of the concert will be donated to the Salvation Army and World Vision Hong Kong after deducting administrative expenses.

For more details, please contact Mr. Flavian LUK at 9808 1340, or email japoc@hku.hk.