The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra — a symphonic complement of traditional instruments — also presented its final round of its International Composition Competition, “Chinese Music Without Bounds”, as part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival. For this competition, a panel of composers, conductors and arts administrators from Europe and Greater China gathered at Hong Kong City Hall’s Concert Hall to choose a winner among the six finalists whittled from an initial 80 entries."It was the skillful contrasts in both volume and texture in Chow Jun Yi’s Kampung and the City — contrasting the quietude of Malaysian village life with the urban bustle of Kuala Lumpur — that made the biggest impression."Despite the finalists’ common ethnicity, the fact that Chow — who won both Best Orchestral Work and the HKCO Musicians’ Favourite awards —now lives in New York City offers some proof that composers who can write for these Chinese instruments are no longer a product of only China.
Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra’s composition competition — as reviewed by Ken Smith, was "an excess of volume and texture" this year. Four overtures from emerging composers were performed by the orchestra in a public workshop, with the winning entry — by audience vote — to be programmed in a future subscription concert.
