Year: 1976
Donor: New Asia Chinese Music Society
DETAILS
In December 1960, the New Asia Chinese Music Society was set up, first as the New Asia College Ancient Chinese Music Society, which was discontinued from 1961 to 1962 due to financial and personnel issues. Support of President Ch’ien Mu and guided by Wang Shun, the Society’s ex-members strove to re-organize the Society. As a result, the New Asia Chinese Music Society was re-launched in June 1963, with an aim to learn and promote Chinese music.
With the College’s provision of subsidies and classroom, New Asia Chinese Music Society began to perform publicly in 1964. Classes for erhu, pipa, guqin, guzheng, yiueqin and the flute started again in October of the same year for fellow students, alumni, faculty members and their family members. The Society’s membership then soared to over 160, making it the largest student organization in New Asia College. New Asia was the tertiary institution with the most prominent training in traditional Chinese music in Hong Kong at the time.
In the 1960s and 1970s, New Asia Chinese Music Society continuously engaged with maestros and other amateur groups in Hong Kong’s Chinese music scene. It was the Society’s tradition to organize annual concerts celebrating New Asia College’s Founders’ Day. Public performances by New Asia Chinese Music Society were often reported in the pages of local newspapers, such as Wah Kiu Yat Po.
On September 30, 1976, New Asia Chinese Music Society held a concert at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre, celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Society and the 27th anniversary of New Asia College. The concert began with the Society’s members, in small ensembles, playing Riding Horses in Spring and Affection of Fish and Water, followed by several pieces by the erhu and flute sections, and two more pieces by the full orchestra, conducted by instructor Yeung Yeuk-chuen. Moonlight on the Spring River, played by the Society’s former instructors and honorary members, opened the concert’s second half, which featured solo performances by current instructors on erhu, flute and guqin. The concert concluded with the Society’s members playing, in full orchestra, I Love To Sing Song and Dance of the Flower Basket, under the baton of instructor Ho Ka-chuen.
This publication serves as the concert’s house program. Mr. Tang Chin-i offered calligraphy for the cover title. President Chuan Han-sheng and Mok Ka-hei (Economics/1977), chairman of New Asia Chinese Music Society, wrote the prefaces. Madame Tang Chun-i, Professor Jao Tsung-i and Professor Sun Kuo-tung contributed apothegms to the house program. Apart from the concert’s listing, the house program includes several essays, covering evolution of Chinese musical instruments, development of Guangdong music, status quo of Hong Kong’s Chinese music circle and reflections by the Society’s members. It also contains the Society’s brief history and chronicle of major events, as well as lists of the Society’s advisors, patrons, instructors, officers and members.
IMAGES
