Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
Today to Saturday
Hong Kong composer Joseph Koo Ka-fai, best known for the theme tunes he penned for television dramas in the 1970s and 80s, is teaming up with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (HKCO) for a Canto-pop concert with a difference: it won't feature any singing.
'This programme focuses on the music rather than vocals,' says the 77-year-old who last collaborated with the ensemble on 2003's Sweet & Sour Hong Kong, a musical drama jointly staged by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre and the Hong Kong Dance Company.
'My compositions are actually best performed by a western orchestra because of the strong sense of rhythm in Canto-pop, something traditional Chinese music doesn't have.
'Though Chinese music is very melodic, unlike western music it is horizontal, meaning it lacks harmonic depth or richness. That is why I find it refreshing to have a Chinese orchestra performing my works because that creates a new sound.'
