Event Information
On December 14, 2013, Hong Kong will glow with holiday magic and come alive with the glorious sounds of Christmas at the New Central Waterfront, brought to you by Very Hong Kong and Hong Kong Generation Next Arts.
Take your seats under the stars and lights of the Hong Kong skyline for a spectacular night of amazing entertainment with fabulous bands, musical performances and festive entertainment. Bring your picnic basket and find the perfect spot under the starlit sky to enjoy an enchanting evening of music, festivities and celebration! “Light is to the eyes what music is to the soul, and this Christmas music extravaganza will be a feast for both!” So join us this year for an unforgettable night – A VERY Hong Kong Merry Christmas Extravaganza under the Hong Kong skyline.
Don't forget to bring a picnic blanket!
Collaborator Information
Hong Kong Generation Next Arts
Hong Kong Generation Next Arts is a performing arts organization and registered charity dedicated to nurturing artistic excellence and personal success in our next generation of young artists and transforming lives through music. Our programs facilitate the development of talented artists and give them the opportunity to participate in recitals and chamber concerts and assist economically disadvantaged youth with music development and expose them to the performing arts.
For more info, please visit www.hkgna.com
Michelle Kim
Pianist Michelle Kim has captivated audiences all over the world for her unique blend of pianistic power, poetry and striking stage presence. Ms. Kim has performed in concert halls throughout the US, Europe and Asia including performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Caramoor, the New Jersey Performing Art Center, the Sejong Cultural Center, the Hong Kong Cultural Center, LACMA and the Chicago Cultural Center. She has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras across the world including the New Jersey Symphony, the Brevard Music Festival Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic, the Xiamen Philharmonic, the Bergen Philharmonic, the Orchestra del Teatro Massimo di Catania, among many others. Her performances have been televised in United States, Italy and South Korea and broadcast on radio stations throughout the US including NPR, WQXR, K-Mozart and WFMT.
Recently, Michelle Kim was featured as one of the “Inspiring Women of Hong Kong” in the October 2013 Anniversary Issue of Marie Claire for her charity work in Hong Kong. Ms. Kim is the founder and artistic director of Hong Kong Generation Next Arts (HKGNA), a Hong Kong Charity dedicated to nurturing artistic excellence and personal success in young artists and transforming lives through music. She has performed numerous concerts to raise money for Hong Kong Charities including performances with violinist Lu Siqing and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and” Concert of Power” event with Nick Vujicic.
Born in Seoul Korea, Ms. Kim began her musical studies at age four. At age ten, she gave her orchestral debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. She went on to graduate from The Juilliard School earning both a Bachelors and Masters of Music. She was also the recipient of the prestigious Arthur Rubinstein Award and garnered top prizes in national and international competitions including the Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition and the Vincenzo Bellini International Piano Competition.
For more info, please visit www.michellekim.com
Carlos Choi
Carlos Choi was born and raised in the hoods of Hong Kong, from a family of professional musicians who were imperfect and broken. His father became a drug addict and split up from his mother.
He grew up an angry kid, joined the HK triads and became a drug dealer and eventually an addict himself. Life was either out on the streets watching his back or being in prison waiting to get out.
He then found salvation: he met Jesus through a community called the St. Stephens society headed up by Jackie Pullinger (author of Chasing the Dragon) a lady who in her early years came to the most notorious city in HK to help gang members, prostitutes and drug addicts. Through the power of the Holy Spirit she helped them and led them into a relationship with Jesus.
From there he grew in his relationship with Jesus as well as his passion for music and my heart for young people and the poor.
Carlos has been leading and teaching on worship for the last 20 years in many different settings, groups and countries.
He was the youth and worship director of Cebu City vineyard (Philiippines).
He has been working with the poor and broken since 1999 and is now currently in HK acting as the worship director of St. Stephens Society and Kowloon City Vineyard(congregation of Jackie Pullinger), through this he is working closely with the poor and broken.
He is a husband and father and also a singer songwriter.
As a professional musician in the Philippines, his former band “STILL” has been on MTV, and MYX, both secular and Christian shows and has featured in different magazines.
Their song “fall on me” was nominated for the best alternative rock award at the 2004 Awit awards.Carlos has written songs for U-turn (Terry Sambajon and Richard Poon) one of which was a hit song named “It could have been You” which was top ten in Mix 2006.
But he decided to never go main stream for his heart remains with the poor, the lost and the troubled. He felt led towards focusing on worship music and the art of leading worship.
For more information, please visit www.carloschoi.com
Yat Po Singers
YAT PO SINGERS is the first professional a cappella choral theatre company in Hong Kong focusing on developing original theatrical works. Three Co-Artistic Directors, composer Ng Cheuk Yin, choral director Patrick Chiu and stage director/designer Yuri Ng, formed a solid team and founded the Company with Executive Director (Honorary) Kathleen Ng. The Company’s artistic mission is to promote the a cappella art form in Hong Kong, especially among young people, through original work by local artists that demonstrate the innovative interaction of music and theatre. Through participation in the company’s productions and activities, young singers and school teachers, are nurtured through intensive rehearsals, workshops, and public performances.
From April 2012, Yat Po Singers receives the Springboard Grant under the Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It not only offers welcome financial support towards the operational costs of the Company, but more importantly enables the Company to raise her public profile. Such facilitation of the Company’s innovative ideas on new theatre productions, audience expansion, arts education and capacity development is, at the same time, a promise and commitment to the enhancement of the arts in Hong Kong at large.
Yat Po Singers is financially supported by the Springboard Grant under the Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Synthia Ko
Hong Kong-born Synthia Ko studied conducting with great masters in both the United States and Europe. She is considered by many a rising conducting star in China. Her passionate expression for music is manifested in the enchantment of her baton. Ko not only captures the heart but also the soul. The recent exciting media coverage is proof that this young conductor has made a mark in the world of symphonic music.
With a sharp mind for details, Ko has a superb interpretation of Western works of the celebrated composers and her Chinese repertoire also displays a thorough and mature understanding of the nuances in the Chinese culture. Her lyrical interpretation of the Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto captured the attention of world-renowned Chinese violin virtuoso, Siqing Lü. In September 2009, he invited her as guest conductor for his concerts in China which was highly acclaimed. Recognizing her immense talent in conducting, the Guangxi Symphony Orchestra soon invited Ko to be their new Music Director and Chief Conductor starting from October 2010. Her concerts with the Guangxi Symphony Orchestra in Nanning all received overwhelming response. The Guangxi Symphony Orchestra is considered the best symphony orchestra in the northwest region of China and has toured the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the Shanghai Expo 2010, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Vietnam, Singapore and Taiwan. Under Ko's leadership, the Guangxi Symphony Orchestra aims at performing in many more great music halls in other parts of the world.
Ko received her conducting degree in the United States where she studied with world-renowned conductors like Abraham Kaplan and Helmuth Rilling. She later furthered her conducting studies in Europe with "the maestro of maestros," Jorma Panula. She collaborated with the Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, and guest conducted the Kunming Symphony Orchestra in China, the Performing Arts Institute in the United States and the Hong Kong Children Symphony Orchestra.
Apart from her professional work, Ko is also engaged in strongly promoting classical music in the community. Not only is she a guest speaker for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and presenter for RTHK Radio 4, she is also the Artistic Director and Chief conductor of one of Asia’s top youth orchestras, the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Hong Kong (MYO). Since she took up the directorship in 2007, the orchestra’s reputation has grown by leaps and bounds. In 2009, her orchestra was invited by Austria’s Brahms Music School and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to perform in the famous Haydn Saal Concert Hall where her concert was well-received by members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The MYO was given the honour of having a private audience with the world-renowned conductor, Nicolaus Harnoncourt. In 2008 Ko took part in the Aberdeen International Youth Festival and Festival of British Youth Orchestras where her concerts all had tremendous success.
In the earlier days of her career, Ko was the Music Director of the Diocesan Girls’ Symphony Orchestra and Choirs. Together with her much loved students they captured the Gold Medal at the International Choir Olympics competition in 2002. Her vast conducting repertoire ranges from orchestral and choral music to musical productions.
Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Hong Kong
Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Hong Kong (MYO) is one of the finest youth orchestras in Asia founded in 2003. More than 250 young musicians from over 120 music colleges, universities, secondary and primary schools, as well as kindergartens, join us and share their passion in music, to build up and perform a repertoire of various styles and periods through weekly rehearsals.
MYO brings excellent classical music performances with the world’s finest musicians and conductors to audiences in Hong Kong and all over the world. In 2012 and 2013, MYO is invited to perform in the prestigious Musikverein – Golden Hall in Austria. The experience set a new milestone for the orchestra and won its recognition from international viewers. MYO is proud to be part of the famous list of performers of the Musikverein. In 2010, MYO performed in Japan and was highly praised by Maestro Shinya Ozaki, for their “Energetic and passionate performance”. In recent years, MYO charged on to produce top class performances, collaborated with world renowned conductor Yang Li, violin virtuoso Siqing Lu, Cho-liang Lin, pianists Michelle Kim, Nancy Loo, Colleen Lee and the famous visual theatre group Magic Circle Mime Company from the United States.
In all events, MYO has proved to impress and received commendable reviews on its artistic excellence. In additional to producing quality music performances, MYO accomplished in bringing inspirational and momentous concerts to our audience, performing with Korean four-fingered pianist Lee Hee-Ah and limbless life warrior, Nick Vujicic.
MYO strives to explore the limitless possibilities in music. Since the establishment of MYO in 2003, the orchestra hosted a variety of shows and charity concerts, aspiring to serve our community through music. Concert proceeds go to various local and global social organizations.
For more details, please visit: www.myohk.com
Hong Kong International School String Quartet
HKIS quartet, featuring Jeffrey Ding He and See Wan Park - Violins, Changwook Shim - Viola, and Sooah Ko - Cello, was formed in May 2011. Since then, the quartet has gone on to perform several concerts and participated in a few charity events. The quartet received the merit award in the Hong Kong Music Festival String Ensemble competition in March, 2012. The students are also involved at the Hong Kong International School Orchestra & String program under the direction of Mr. Meidad Yehudayan.
CIS Jazzband
The CIS Jazz Band is a contemporary group of musicians from Chinese International School who play rhythm section instruments, wind and string instruments. The band focuses on repertoire from jazz to funk to contemporary arrangements and the students perform at various venues in Hong Kong such as the Island East Market and school events. It is led by Mr. Stephen Rabach, and student leaders Cameron Zeluck and Mika Wysocki. Other members include Alison Shelby Choi, Franklin Fengcun Gu, Hoi Chung Liu, Steven Wong, Janan Hui, Wing Tung Christy Leung, Wing Tung Christy Leung, Krystof Wysocki, Albert Wang, Ryan Chang, Charlotte Emery, Bev Riddell (T).
