Encore, encore, encore

Conductor Hubert Yan Huichang gets standing ovations as HKCO keeps delighting foreign audiences with traditional Chinese music

Seeing an audience reluctant to leave the music hall even after three encores and an official curtain call, veteran conductor Hubert Yan Huichang was stunned.

“The stage was already empty — but people were still standing firmly there applauding loudly for us,” the Chinese music maestro recalled in a recent interview.

That was during a performance in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, in 2004. Soon, the conductor figured out what to do. “I went back onto the stage with the concert masters again, and again, bowing and thanking them until they finally left contented.”

More surprises followed. Afterwards, outside the hall, Yan found that the crowds were all lining up for the music records and other publications or items made by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, or HKCO, that he led, which sold out like hot cakes.

“This was really heartwarming to me, as it illustrated how much they had appreciated our performances and loved the Chinese traditional music,” Yan said.

The orchestra also performed in a well-known, grand cathedral, the Basilica St Denis, a unique setting, receiving high recognition from the audience.

When the rest of the world sees how unique the Chinese culture is, and how it can benefit all human beings, they can certainly enjoy the culture, Yan said.

The charm of the Chinese folk music performed by HKCO stems from being deeply rooted in traditions while embracing modernity, according to Yan, now artistic director and principal conductor for life of HKCO.

“Our mission statement is to turn HKCO into a world-class, renowned orchestra that local Hong Kong residents can be proud of.”

Yan has led the HKCO since 1997 when he was appointed the music director of HKCO, moving on from his posts of principal conductor and artistic director of China National Orchestra. Since then, the troupe has performed across the globe with traditional Chinese music.

Whether it is Europe, the United States or the Asia Pacific, Yan found that the orchestra’s performances have always been highly welcomed.

“In so many places the audiences have given standing ovations and keep requesting encores before the shows ended,” he said, “In fact, the HKCO has become a cultural ambassador for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.”

On Jan 28, at the Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore, the orchestra members took off their masks for the first time, performing for nearly two hours, since the outbreak of COVID-19. Their previous performance in Singapore was already eight years ago.

“Although it is more unusual for Asians to give standing ovation as they tend to be considered more reserved in manners, this time all the audience just did it as they were really immersed into our performance,” Yan said.

The audience in Singapore gave rave reviews. “(The concert) shows that music connects the hearts with more strength than a thousand words,” said an attendee.

The orchestra “unfurled a program so magnificent and moving, it brought tears of joy and gratitude to my eyes several times through the evening”, one of the audience wrote in a notebook. It was “music with life and soul”, added another concert-goer.

There were similar moving scenes in the past, including at HKCO’s last overseas performance at Mupa Budapest, Hungary, before COVID-19 hit three years ago, Yan said.

For Yan, compared with Western classic music, the trait of Chinese traditional music lies in its conversational style and storytelling nature as well as preserving the strong, lively character of each instrument instead of trying to put more into one unified style.

“That’s the attractiveness of our Chinese folk music,” he said.

The most difficult thing about conducting a Chinese folk orchestra is one needs to “know extremely well the characteristics of every single piece of the instrument in the orchestra, as each of them is unique”, he said.

Besides, a deep understanding of the Chinese culture, history and Chinese aesthetics is required, as the folk music is closely associated with those.

“Director Yan has acquired not only very extensive experience in conducting folk music, but also a systematic way of building the orchestra and leading it, (enabling it) to stand out,” said Zhao Taisheng, the principal Sanxian performer at HKCO.

“He has achieved in bringing the HKCO (to) an advanced, top level in the world, while being highly supportive of innovative reforms with our traditional instruments.”

Excellence is born from diligence and intelligence. When the HKCO performed in Norway’s snowy Arctic Circle Region in 2011, their ecofriendly instrument, eco-Huqin, withstood the test of the one of most freezing weathers in the world there. “This was (a) surprise,” Yan said.

According to Yan, the skincovered sound box of Huqin, a stringed Chinese instrument, has been traditionally made of python skin. However, since pythons have been on the endangered species list since the 1980s, and products made with such material being banned in many countries, the HKCO replaced the reptile skin with a more “snakefriendly” and environmentally friendly alternative, polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Having a good grasp of music theories on Chinese traditional music and its instruments can serve the purpose of promoting it well overseas, said Yan.

To Yan’s delight, he noticed that Chinese traditional music majors have been set up in many places of learning in the world, which is something that he could not be have imagined before.

“Also, could you ever dream that Chinese conductor Tan Dun would be appointed as the dean of the Bard Conservatory of Music in New York?” he asked.

Yan said HKCO succeeds in trying to keep up with the times and that it continues to innovate. Locally, the HKCO serves the Hong Kong residents as it helps plan or organize, or participate in, all kinds of folk music festivals.

During the three years of pandemic, Yan said that the HKCO had not stopped innovating with new forms with traditional Chinese music to engage the audience in Hong Kong. Among the initiatives was creating an online music hall to enable audiences enjoy a wide range of shows free of charge with only a few clicks.

Moreover, HKCO held its first 5G online live broadcasting concerts in 2020. On March 10, the orchestra held its first-ever performance on a cruise ship, at the Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong, which was livestreamed on social media.

“This is groundbreaking as no professional orchestra in the world except the HKCO had gone aboard a cruise ship, Yan noted.

The orchestra’s new tour in 2023 will include four concerts in Japan which will kick off on March 31 and end on April 6. The concerts will see HKCO work with Japanese saxophone player Sumiya Miho to bring fresh sounds to the audience.