Hong Kong Youth NeoWinds Orchestra would like to share the joy and happiness of the festive season through their " New Year's Eve Concert 2006". The concert was held in the afternoon of 31st Dec 2006 at the Jockey Club Auditorium, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Ying Wa College and Ying Wa Primary School Choirs were invited as guest performers, together they brought a wonderful concert of festive music to the audiences.

With a warm welcome applause from the audience, the orchestra opened the concert with one of Antonin Dvorak's popular dance collection "Slavonic Dances No.1", which was in Bohemia dancing style. The piece was played enchantingly as if the audience was invited in this vivid dance.

The second piece was Pavel Stanek's "A Fairy Tale Suite" written in the hospital when the composer had to undergo a critical surgery. This imaginative delightful piece involved pictorial musical tales which became titles for individual movements. The audience enjoyed the piece explicitly and forget the hustle and bustle of the city.

The orchestra then played "Florentiner March" which was written by Julius Fucik and was officially adopted by the German Army. This march demonstrates a clear dynamic rhythm with distinctive melodic variations. The piece opens with beginning followed by some delightful passages in the later part. The orchestra performed this famous piece with distinctive style.

"Charming Asia" was then followed. The orchestra handled this medley of traditional and popular Asian tunes very well. Back to the history of this piece, it was actually commissioned by the 14th Asian Pacific Band Directors Association Executive Committee and was premiered at the opening ceremony of the 14th APBDA Conference 2006 in Macau.

"The Seventh Night of July" was the last piece before the end of first half of the program. The piece was about a traditional Japanese myth - "Tanabata" - the legend that a young couple lived separately by the Milky Way and were only allowed to reunite on the seventh of July every year. The alto saxophone and the euphonium solos in the middle of the piece imitate the voices of the couple calling to each other.

Part II

In the first half of the concert, the orchestra introduced traditional band music written by famous composers while in the second half, the orchestra brought relaxed and popular Christmas themes to the audience.

The first piece , "A Chirstmas Carol Fantasy" , light up audience' mood of enjoying a hearty festive greetings. The piece arranged by T. Hoshide was a medley comprising of seven well-known Christmas tunes including "O Come, All Ye Faithful", "Joy To The World", "The First Noel", "Deck The Hall", "The Herald Angels Sing", "O Tannenbaum" and "O Little Town Of Bethlehem".

The highlight of the afternoon has the joint performance of the orchestra and Ying Wa College and Ying Wa Primary School Choirs. A well-known hymn, Lead On, O King Eternal, which was arranged by James Swearingen, was firstly performed. The sound of the choir and the orchestra echoed and complemented each other. Do you Hear What I Hear from Noel regency, a French classical composer came afterwards. Its lyric was written by Noel's wife, Gloria Shayne and this song was also immersed with Christmas love. At last, the two groups performed Leroy Anderson's A Christmas Festival. The last piece of the program was a medley of eight popular Christmas jingles including Joy To The World, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Jingle Bells and Silent Night. The sound of the chorus and the orchestra blended so well together that they had created a joyous mood amongst the audience.

The concert ended with enthusiastic applause from the audience. We all looked forward to their joint performance next year!