2010年7月20日星期二

Great news from the World Choir Games!


We're back from our very first full-group international competition experience, the 6th World Choir Games Shaoxing 2010! What an amazing trip!

We selected new choral pieces for these Games, and used the past few months to rehearse eight contemporary choral works (two were composed by our very own Patrick and Ernest) with the help of our two conductors as well as Apollo Wong.

Honestly, it was not easy - we have not performed choral works for a long time, so it was hard to adjust to this singing style... but it was worth it! We got extraordinary results, placing second out of 16 groups in Champion Class: Mixed Chamber Choirs, and obtaining Hong Kong's first (and so far, only) Gold Medal in Shaoxing. We also placed third out of 19 groups in the Open Class: Contemporary Music category, earning a Gold Diploma.

We also were very lucky to see other choirs perform in the Games - they were amazing! We'll write more about them in the future.

If you want to hear our competition songs, come see our November concert! Details to follow.

For the full results:
blog.interkultur.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Champions_Competition_-_Part_I.pdf
blog.interkultur.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Open_Competition_-_Part_I.pdf

2010年7月4日星期日

清唱感動人心

上星期有團員告訴我,他被母校邀請為校歌編成無伴奏合唱版本,把向來感覺嚴肅的校歌以 a cappella演繹,唱出來必定有另一種感覺!碰巧我的中學老師也邀請我回到母校擔任歌唱比賽評判,順便跟師妹分享一下有關無伴奏合唱的點滴。原來她們三月份有到伊館看<<2010國際無伴奏音樂盛典>>,自此更多同學認識了a cappella。而中學老師亦告訴我,自從那場音樂會後,各級的音樂課也加上無伴奏音樂的介紹,因此很多師妹都對無伴奏合唱略知一二。似乎隨著愈來愈多的無伴奏合唱音樂會,成功把a cappella推廣至更年輕一代;而且最近亦有不少由年青人新組成的無伴奏合唱組合,當中學生對a cappella也感興趣時,亦正正代表a cappella在香港開始慢慢普及化呢。

回想起初初接觸a cappella的時候,當時我是那些「只聽不唱」的a cappella fans,除了聽音樂會,便是留意相關的a cappella訪問。有一次我訪問了a cappella的「前輩級」人物,他的其中一句說話我一直記到現在。他說,不少無伴奏合唱組合難逃「三年魔咒」,經營一個a cappella group的確會面對很多問題。由於大多組合都是業餘的關係,若未能解決排練、團員相處、經營分工等種種難題,很可能唱了兩、三年還是要解散,實在可惜。當時的我只是被a cappella的魅力感動,也預料不到自己今天從台下走到台上唱a cappella,幸好HKMM裡的每一個團員都為經營這個樂團而努力。我想,這裡的凝聚力除了是音樂本身外,也是每個人對a cappella的熱情和堅持。也許這就是每一個熱愛a cappella、熱愛音樂、熱愛藝術的人的共通之處吧!


記得上次有提及過我們接受網上直播訪問嗎?現在能夠在youtube重溫了,節目中我們除了介紹a cappella,團員更示範了模仿樂器呢,千萬不要錯過!;)

<<清唱感動人心>> Part 1 --U21專訪青協香港旋律



<<清唱感動人心>> Part 2 --U21專訪青協香港旋律