Tom Lee Hong Kong Youth Neo Winds Orchestra Annual Concert

Ever since 2004, the NeoWinds Orchestra has provided wonderful orchestral training and performance opportunities for budding musicians in the territory. Marching into its third year, an exhilarating annual concert was held in Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium on 5th April 2007, winning the cheers and support from more than 1000 audience. With the joint efforts from the orchestra's Honorary Patron / Guest conductor, Thomas E. Verrier, and Methodist School Black Light Drama Group, this annual concert was a product of joy and variety.

Joined by Dr. Thomas E. Verrier, NeoWinds performed pieces from the contemporary wind repertoire, including compositions by Ron Nelson and Frank Ticheli in the first half of the concert. In Ron Nelson's "Resonances", some brass players stood at the balcony of the auditorium, performing off-stage solos, bringing an interesting sound, texture and listening experience to the audience. In the first twenty seconds of the song, the synchronous technique employed by the composer was brought to live by the slow, interacting voices that developed gradually with time. To guide and assist the youngsters in this challenging piece, Dr Verrier showed the bar count with his hand, ensuring everyone is on the same track. Just like the pros, every single musician in the NeoWinds focused with their greatest effort, stretched and transformed the calm and steady sound-scape into another section that was filled with tension, strength and planned turmoil.

Following "Resonances I", the orchestra played Zdeclick's "Chorale and Shaker Dance", one of the most famous and widely recognized pieces of band literature. The numerous changes in time signature was not a problem for NeoWinds, so as the saxophone players and flute players, exhibited the canon theme with integrity.

Apart from conducting, Dr. Verrier also shared his view and thoughts with the audience too. "I was asked whether it's an amazing thing to share music, with people who speak different languages. But then I thought, the most amazing thing is in music itself, which gives me the opportunity to share the joy of music-making", said Dr. Verrier. As all the pieces in the first half of the program came to an end, he left the stage, and padded one young musician's shoulder friendly. From that musician's joyful facial expression, and the loud tap on the stage floor, it is no doubt that both Dr. Verrier and the orchestra members enjoyed themselves in the music-making and collaboration process.

After intermission, the NeoWinds hid and performed at the back of the black backdrop, to support Methodist School's Black Light Drama Group. Having more than 90 performers on stage at the same time, they presented "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", a tale originated from Disney's "Fantasia" back in 1940.

The Drama Group's surreal performance relied on an optical ruse, which make use of the imperfection of the human eye. Forty children dressed in black, holding props painted with fluorescent dye. They contributed their greatest efforts to present the mess, caused by the not-yet-fully-trained apprentice's magic spell.

When the auditorium is blacked-out, stunning illusions such as flying brooms and running buckets wowed every audience in the auditorium. As human eye cannot distinguish black-on-black, the children who were moving against a black background, became invisible to the audience. Instead of spoken lines, The children's physical gestures had given life to the story, breaking the language barrier found in those traditional drama presentation forms. The scene, in which several dolphins were swimming merrily in the sorcerer's house, made everyone in the house giggle. Fresh and new to the local community, the Drama Group and NeoWinds received a sustained applause for this lively, comical and charming show.

For the second half of the program, NeoWind's Music Director and Conductor Danilo Delfin returned to unfold a series of light-hearted and concert band classics. The highlight of this section had to be the solos given by Principle Percussionist Emily Cheng and Principle Trombone player Faraday Fung in the respective pieces. Although both musicians are still in their teens, their passion and confidence were illustrated through their interpretation and presentation of the pieces.

At the end of the concert, the crowd gave the orchestra an sustained applause, thanking for their passionate music performance, as well as confirming their hard work and efforts spent in music-making.