BachChoir.org.hk
Title
The Hong Kong Bach Choir
Description
The Hong Kong Bach Choir and Orchestra
The Hong Kong Bach Choir is one of Hong Kong's longest established choirs. Formed in 1970, the original Choir was an ensemble of 15 singers assembled to support the Baroque Ensemble for a single performance of a single Bach cantata. Over the years its membership has expanded significantly and it now has a multi-national membership of more than 80 singers. The Choir presents two concerts in major venues each year.
The Choir has enjoyed the direction of a number of conductors over its 33-year history, from its earliest days with Dr. Carl Halter through productive associations with such local musicians as Peter Stevenson and Michael Ryan. Since 1992, the Choir has been under the musical leadership of Jerome Hoberman, with whom it has sung a diverse range of music. It now has the widest repertoire of any choir in Hong Kong, ranging from the 16th century to the present day. Bach, Mozart and Brahms remain perennial favourites: in spring 2001 the Choir celebrated its 30th anniversary season with a performance of Bach's masterpiece, the Mass in B Minor. During the past two seasons it has performed Mozart's Requiem, Rossini's Petite Messe solennelle, Handel's Israel in Egypt and Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, among other works.
Demonstrating a flair for originality in musical programming, the Choir has performed a series of significant local premières. These include the first Asian performance of Otto Olsson's Te Deum and the first Hong Kong performances of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Britten's St. Nicholas, as well as world premières of three commissioned works by local composers: From the Old to the New Testament, composed for the Choir in 1998 by Ip Kim Ho, Veni Sancte Spiritus by Christopher Keyes, commissioned by the Choir and first performed in 1999, and Ip Kim Ho's An Offering of Flowers, written to be inserted into the Choir's 2002 performance of Rossini's Petite Messe solennelle.
