Reporter Fang Zhuoran Editor Peng Peng On October 28, the Hong Kong String Orchestra presented a new work "Flowers" adapted from the theme soundtrack of the TV series "Flowers" at the "Art Sky" of the Shanghai International Arts Festival, reliving the 1990s on the bowstrings. Pop

Reporter Fang Zhuoran

Editor Peng Peng

On October 28, the Hong Kong String Orchestra presented a new work "Flowers" adapted from the theme soundtrack of the TV series "Flowers" at the "Art Sky" of the Shanghai International Arts Festival. Enjoy the popular hits of the 90s. In the afternoon of that day, the musicians specially came to the Hengfu Historical Landscape Reserve and held a music flash mob at the Blackstone Apartments, which has witnessed the century-old prosperity and evolution of Shanghai, and the city was filled with flowers.

Looking at the tour program of the Hong Kong String Orchestra, it is not difficult to find that in addition to Western classical sounds such as Vivaldi and Dag Veren, pop music such as "Echo of Gu Jiahui's Golden Songs" and "Flowers of Golden Songs" are also impressive Also included in the list are "Cantonese Opera Fantasia" commissioned by the orchestra and composed by Yip Guohui, and "Fangma Folk Song" and "Qingping Diao" which are full of traditional Chinese music culture.

In the opinion of Yao Jue, the founder and artistic director of the orchestra, this kind of repertoire design fully demonstrates the characteristics and personality of the Hong Kong String Orchestra. "As a Hong Kong orchestra, we must fully demonstrate Hong Kong's diverse culture that combines Chinese and Western culture, as well as its vibrant and innovative side." Yao Jue said, "I hope we can 'catch' every performance and every second. The audience's heart, hearing different styles of sounds, also allows people to see more colors and plasticity of the orchestra. "

Before establishing the Hong Kong String Orchestra, Yao Jue, who was born in a musical family, had rich academic experience. From Shangyin High School to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and then to the Juilliard School of Music where he studied under DeLay, several educational experiences opened up Yao Jue's broad horizons and laid a solid foundation for becoming a soloist in the future.

In San Francisco, she spent every day in the library, listening to records over and over again, thinking about how she should perform; in New York, master conductors such as Bernstein often went to Juilliard to guide student orchestras, and every training session It was a rare master class for Yao Jue. She carefully noted down the details of different conductors.

From the bowing technique and the distribution of timbre to the emotional understanding and grasp of the work, how to organically unify and integrate skills and expressions, and then pass them on to the audience, Yao Jue learned a lot from the teachings of many Bo Le. She also gradually felt the power of music. After graduating from

, Yao Jue became active on the world stage as a soloist. After going to Hong Kong to develop, she served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee. It was this experience that gave Yao Jue the idea of ​​starting a band.

"There are a large number of graduates from the Academy of Performing Arts every year. More than ten years ago, there were only two orchestras in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Music students all flocked to these two orchestras, but the places were very limited. , the vast majority of graduates can only choose to teach to make a living.” Yao Jue lamented, “Standing on the stage to show their talents is their ideal destination.”

In 2013, the Hong Kong String Orchestra was established with 11 founding members. The orchestra has two purposes: one is to provide a stage for local young musicians in Hong Kong so that they can become performers. The second one is to bring the joy and energy of music to every corner of Hong Kong.

These two purposes guide every path of future development of the Hong Kong String Orchestra. From soloist to artistic director of the orchestra, Yao Jue started from scratch. She realized the hardships and difficulties of running a private orchestra. Yao Jue gave up a lot of performance opportunities and traveled between the government, sponsors and partner organizations every day to seek resources and cooperation opportunities.

"I don't know anything. I can only explore, learn, and improve at the same time." The orchestra only has a few executives, but their common ideas and beliefs support this fledgling orchestra to complete all kinds of things that are difficult to achieve in the eyes of others. "Miracle". The Hong Kong String Orchestra has set many "firsts", including the first classical music pop-up in Hong Kong, the first to expand the online live broadcast platform in Hong Kong and the Mainland to launch a live online concert series, and the world's largest string ensemble with 1,021 people. Nice record etc.

In terms of artistic positioning, Yao Jue discovered that the Hong Kong market does not lack good classical orchestras, and the Hong Kong string orchestra must find another way and find its own way. The adaptation of folk songs, pop songs, and even innovative expressions of traditional Chinese culture have become the orchestra's unique artistic background. On the other hand, the orchestra holds two concerts every year in cooperation with the orchestra, which not only improves the musicians' performance skills, but also accumulates a wider and broader classical music repertoire.

The popular TV series "Flowers" uses Wong Kar-wai's unique lens language to tell the story of "Shanghai's past" in the great era, and dozens of popular hits from the 1990s are the highlight of the drama. "Flowers" is available on major music broadcasting platforms ost immediately rushed to the hot list.

"Hong Kong pop music culture is a very important part of Hong Kong culture, and the story takes place in Shanghai. "Flowers" connects the two cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong, which is the cultural and emotional resonance of Shanghai and Hong Kong." Yao Jue introduce. The Hong Kong String Orchestra specially invited composer Foo Yuen-wai to combine Hong Kong pop music with Western string techniques, and adapted the golden songs of the era such as "What I Want in Life", "Unrepented" and "I Like You" into string versions to relive the glory days.

Yao Jue and the Hong Kong String Orchestra have been committed to spreading the excellent traditional Chinese culture to the world for many years. "Use the world's common musical language to introduce Chinese culture to a global audience. String art is a good medium. The key is to create more good works." Yao Jue said that Chinese culture is the root of Chinese artists, and Hong Kong Strings Every overseas tour of the orchestra will deliberately arrange Chinese works to spread Chinese culture and tell Chinese stories.

This year’s mainland tour also fulfills Yao Jue’s long-cherished wish—to introduce Lingnan culture to more audiences. She discussed with many composers and wanted to present Cantonese opera with a new look to today's young people, until she met Yip Kwok-fai, and the two hit it off. Yip Kwok-fai combines Chinese Cantonese opera singing with Western string music to innovate the contemporary expression of traditional Chinese excellent culture. Yip Kwok-fai's "Cantonese Opera Fantasy" is the first time the Hong Kong String Orchestra has commissioned a composer to create it. It will be premiered at the 4th "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Festival" starting in November.

Entering its second decade, Yao Jue has more expectations for the development of the Hong Kong String Orchestra. "Professionally, I hope that the Hong Kong String Orchestra can further improve and become one of the best orchestras in Asia. Through our string art, more Western audiences can fall in love with Chinese culture. At the same time, I also hope that our music can influence More children, changing their families, lives and futures.”