Programme
Copland
Fanfare for the Common Man
Bach, arr. Elgar
Fantasia and Fugue in C minor
Rautavaara
Missa a cappella
– INTERMISSION –
Walton
Belshazzar’s Feast
Apollo Wong, baritone, music director & conductor
The Learners Chorus
The Learners Orchestra
University Choir, CA, HKU
Performers’ Biographies
Apollo Wong, baritone, music director & conductor
A native of Hong Kong, Apollo Wong is a conductor, operatic bass and educator. Educated in the United States and Germany, he studied voice with Vladimir Chernov, Juliana Gondek and Sami Kustaloglu. He was the winner of Palm Springs Opera Guild Vocal competition and the Pasadena Opera Guild Vocal Scholarship. In 2019, Wong has won first place at the Hong Kong Choral Conducting Competition and the Asia Pacific Youth Choir Award.
Wong has sung major operatic and musical roles including Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Frère Laurent (Roméo et Juliette), Colline (La Bohème), Simone (Gianni Schicchi), Geppetto (Pinocchio) and Javert (Les Misérables), among others. Amongst his concert and oratorio repertoire, he has notably both sung the bass solos and conducted Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Faurè’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 “Symphony of a Thousand”, Mozart’s Requiem, and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. He also performed in world premiere operas by Chan Hing Yan: Lu Xun (Heart of Coral), Moonlight (Ghost Love) and Kang You Wei (Datong); and Caterpillar and Duchess (Alice in Wonderland) by Valtinoni. He recently sung Schubert’s Winterreise (with Hong Kong City Contemporary Dance Company).
Being an active conductor, Wong is currently Chorus Master of Hong Kong Philharmonic Chorus, Music Director of The Learners Chorus and The Learners Orchestra, and conductor of Hong Kong Children’s Choir and St. Paul’s Co-educational College senior choirs. Being recognized as an inspiring chorus and orchestral builder, from community to professional ensembles, he has introduced a broad variety of choral and orchestral music to the public: from Magnificat by Bach and Rutter, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem and Schicksalslied, Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass, Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna, Lully’s Te Deum, Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang, Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor and Requiem, Rossini’s Messa di Gloria and Stabat Mater, Tallis’ Spem in Alium, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem and Quattro pezzi sacri; to Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”, Martin’s Mass for Double Choir, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Pärt’s Credo, Poulenc’s Gloria, Prauliņš Missa Rigensis, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms.
He has been the chorus master for conductors such as David Atherton, Lorin Maazel, Helmuth Rilling, Tan Dun and Jaap van Zweden; and has been assistant conductor in operas Aida, Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi, L’elisir d’more, La Bohème and Turandot.
Samuel Huang, concertmaster
Samuel Huang was born and raised in Hong Kong, where he studied violin and viola with Ray Tsoi at Hong Kong Baptist University, and with Ivan Chan at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He continued his studies in the United States under the tutelage of Benny Kim, Miami String Quartet, Cathy Meng Robinson, and Amy Lee at Kent State University and University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he obtained his master and doctorate degrees in violin performance respectively. Samuel has been exploring different schools of string pedagogy by participating in string teacher workshops and conferences at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Ohio State University, and the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.
Winner of the Hong Kong Baptist University Concerto competition and UMKC Concerto/Aria competition, Samuel has appeared as a soloist and concertmaster with orchestras including Pro Arte Orchestra of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Arts School Orchestra, the Kharkov Philharmonic Orchestra (Ukraine), Heartland Chamber Orchestra, Texas Festival Orchestra, and Miami Festival Opera Orchestra.
Apart from solo and orchestral performing, Samuel had served as the violinist of the NewEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble in Kansas City for four years, and worked closely with contemporary classical composers such as Jennifer Higdon, Chen Yi, and Zhou Long. He has collaborated with world-class artists in chamber music, such as Ida Kavafian, Yekwon Sunwoo, and members from Miami String Quartet and St. Petersburg String Quartet.
As an educator, Samuel has given masterclasses in various universities and festivals, including Western Illinois University, Fort Hays State University, and International Fringe Music Festival. Currently, he is serving as the resident conductor at Hong Kong Baptist University, working with the HKBU symphony orchestra and Collegium Musicum Hong Kong.
The Learners Chorus
Music Director & Conductor: Apollo Wong
Assistant Conductor: Jason Liu
Pianist: Alexander Wong
The Learners Chorus was founded in 1979 by former members of the Hong Kong University Students’ Union Choir. Its repertoire includes a wide spectrum of choral works, and commissioned works by distinguished Hong Kong composers, including Dr. Chan Hing Yan, Dr. Victor Chan, Dr. Daniel Law, Mr. Law Wing Fai, Dr. Phoebus Lee, Mr. Jason Liu, Mr. Michael Mak and Dr. Richard Tsang. Major choral works presented and performed in recent years include Bach’s Magnificat, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem and Schicksalslied, Faure’s Requiem, Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass, Lully’s Te Deum, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” and Symphony No. 8 “Symphony of a Thousand”, Martin’s Mass for Double Choir, Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang, Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor and Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Pärt’s Credo, Poulenc’s Gloria, Prauliņš’ Missa Rigensis, Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, Rossini’s Messa di Gloria, Petite Messe Solennelle and Stabat Mater, Rutter’s Mass of the Children, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Tallis’ Spem in Alium and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem and Quattro pezzi sacri.
Apart from hosting large-scale concerts with its official orchestral partner, The Learners Orchestra, the Chorus has also given guest performances both locally and abroad. In 2013 and 2014, the Chorus performed Britten’s War Requiem with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and its Chorus under the baton of the late Maestro Lorin Maazel, and to celebrate “Hong Kong Cultural Centre – Celebrating 25 Years” respectively. In 2015, Learners performed at “Macao Soul” with the Macao Orchestra and the Macao Perosi Choir at the 26th Macao Arts Festival. In July 2016, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London, Learners gave its London debut at St John’s Smith Square, performing a wide range of choral works in nine different languages, of different styles and from across different eras. In August 2016, alongside the Arnold Schoenberg Choir, the Vienna Boys’ Choir and the Hong Kong Treble Choir, Learners performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 “Symphony of a Thousand” at the Hong Kong-Vienna Music Festival. In May 2017, Learners performed at “紫荊花開”, a joint choral concert with the Shenzhen University Caisangzi Chorus (深圳大學采桑子合唱團), at the Shenzhen x Hong Kong Art & Culture Exchange Festival (深港青年文化交流藝術季). In 2018, Learners gave three visits to Macau to participate in the recording session of Te Deum by Macanese composer Fr. Áureo in May, and perform at “Heroes: A Video Game Symphony” and “National Geographic: Symphony for Our World” with the Macao Orchestra under the baton of Maestra Jessica Gethin, in June and November respectively. In April 2019, alongside the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Learners performed at “Arias between Western & Eastern”, the closing concert of the 2019 Shenzhen Belt & Road International Music Festival. In August 2019, in collaboration with the Dream Orchestra of Los Angeles, Learners gave its North American debut, performing both at the Los Angeles International Choir Festival and, alongside the Opera Chorus of Los Angeles, “Verdi Requiem” at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
Learners is devoted to promoting music among young people. Students are often invited to sing with the Chorus or play in The Learners Orchestra alongside professional musicians. Young choir members interested in choral conducting have been offered the chance to conduct the Chorus in various concerts. Young musicians also give guest performances in its concerts. “Learners Learning” Concerts have been held to improve choir members’ vocal skills through ensemble or solo singing. During school breaks, Learners’ student members are often sponsored by friends of Learners to participate in vocal workshops and master classes given by its Music Director. Student Ticket Sponsorship Programme has served its mission of extending music appreciation opportunities among Hong Kong’s youth. Since 2006, almost 7,000 students, many first-timers, have received tickets to its concerts, all sponsored by benevolent friends of Learners.
Active in community and charitable work, Learners has also given performances at elderly homes, disabled homes and sheltered workshops. Learners has also presented outreach programmes at community centres in London, featuring both choral singing and interactive games with the audience, both of which were positively received. Net ticket proceeds from fundraising concerts have been donated to charitable projects of the Hong Kong Christian Council, including the “Rebuilding Village Clinics Project”, “Water Cellars for Homes Project”, “Rebuilding Collapsing Schools Project”, “Senior High School Sponsorship Project”, “School Library Books Project” in China, “School Building Project in Myanmar”, “Village Development in Myanmar Project”, “Feeding Program in Myanmar / Cambodia” and “COVID-19 Relief Projects”. Learners has also raised funds for A Drop of Life Limited to install water cellars in Gansu, and participated in their “Walk for Water” project. The Chorus has also co-presented earthquake relief concerts in the past, including, most recently, “The Future of Nepal: Fundraising Concert for 4.25 Earthquake Victims” in May 2015. In June 2015, Learners performed at “Michaelmas Fair 2015 Concert – Hope and Dream”, a fundraising concert organized by St John’s Cathedral of Hong Kong.
By cultivating youth education through the aforesaid means, Learners strives to abide by its name in a fuller sense.
The Learners Orchestra
In April 2006, a group of caring orchestral players performed in “A Tribute to Mozart – Requiem and other works”, a charity concert presented by The Learners Chorus (the “Chorus”) to commemorate the 250th birthday of Mozart. In September 2007, the Friends of Learners Orchestra (the “FLO”) was officially founded and made its debut at the Chorus’ annual concert at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, featuring Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky cantata. Since then, FLO has performed with the Chorus in its large-scale concerts, namely, “Magnificat through the Ages”, “Celebrating Thirty Years of Harmony: Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 8 Symphony of a Thousand”, “Rossini Messa di Gloria & Brahms Schicksalslied”, and “Giuseppe Verdi: Messa da Requiem”. At its performance in “Celebrating Great Masters for the Voice” in September 2013, FLO was renamed The Learners Orchestra (“TLO”), making it the official orchestral partner of the Chorus. As part of the Chorus’ 35th Anniversary Concert Series, TLO held its inaugural concert with the Chorus in May 2014, performing “Mahler Symphony No. 2 Resurrection”, followed by “Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem” in August 2014. After that, TLO performed in the 2015 SliderAsia Music Festival’s “SliderAsia Open Winners Feature & Learners Orchestra Concert”, “La Musica Sacra Italiana” in July 2015, “Songs of Praise – in Voces Multi” in January 2016, featuring Lully’s Te Deum, “Mozart Great Mass in C minor” in September 2016, and “Lux Aeterna” in January 2017.
2017 also saw the 10th anniversary of the Learners Orchestra. “10 May x 10 Years: A French Celebration” concert was held in May 2017, featuring Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C minor “Organ”. This was followed by “Lights of Belief and Praise” in September 2017, “A Bicentennial Celebration: Gounod St Cecilia Mass” in September 2018, “UC Conductors Through the Ages” in January 2019, featuring Fauré’s Requiem, “Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4” in June 2019, and “Carmina Burana” in November 2019. Recent major works performed included Mozart’s Requiem, Bach Mass in B minor, Mendelssohn Elijah.
Members of TLO are recruited from local conservatories and universities, as well as from community and professional orchestras. All members strongly dedicate themselves to supporting charitable performances of the Chorus without receiving any honorarium. Their selfless and benevolent effort, and consistently high performance standards have been much appreciated by the Chorus, the audience, and all beneficiaries. TLO also aims to play a vital role in promoting music education – specifically, by providing opportunities for music students to work alongside their teachers, amateur musicians among professional; and in expanding their concert repertoire beyond standard orchestral music.
University Choir, CA, HKU
Established in 1967, University Choir, Cultural Association, The University of Hong Kong aims to extend the reach of choral music within and beyond the University. The Choir is an entirely student-run non-profit making organisation. Over the past 58 years, the Choir has been actively participating in various local and international choral competitions and performances.
The Choir has consistently achieved outstanding results in Hong Kong Schools Music Festival and has put much effort into bringing Hong Kong choral pieces onto international stages, participating in choral festivals around the world. In July 2024, the Choir competed in the Golden Voices of Barcelona Festival and was awarded 1st Prize in the ‘World Sacred Music’ category. In August 2025, the Choir competed in the 14th Bali International Choir Festival and attained a Gold Medal and Overall Winner in the ‘Mixed Youth Choir’ Choir Championship, qualifying as a Grand Prix finalist in the Festival.
Apart from that, the Choir actively collaborates with local music groups to extend its passion for music to the Hong Kong public for a good cause. In April 2025, the Choir collaborated with the SAR Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong University Alumni Association Choir, and other local music organisations in the “Let Talent Bloom Let Futures Shine Charity Concert” and the “Haven of Hope Sister Annie Skau Holistic Care Centre Charity Concert 2025” organised by the SAR Philharmonic Orchestra to raise funds for Heep Hong Society and Haven of Hope Christian Service respectively.
Every year, the Choir organises various local performances, such as the Anniversary Concert, the Summer Concert, and Christmas Carolling performances. Summer Concert 2025 “Nozomi”, was the Choir’s first-ever Japanese-themed concert, and successfully attracted a full house. The Choir endeavours to continue promoting choral music to the public and contribute to the betterment of choral music among youths in Hong Kong.
Programme Notes
Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
Aaron Copland (1900-1990), often hailed by his peers and critics as “The Dean of American Composers”, was instrumental in shaping an American sound in classical music. His works are marked by open harmonies and clear textures that evoke images of vast American landscapes and its pioneer spirit. Fanfare for the Common Man is one of his most iconic creations.
Composed in 1942 during the Second World War, the piece was commissioned by Eugene Goossens, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as part of a series of 10 patriotic fanfares to be played at the beginning of each orchestral concert of the season. Copland drew inspiration from a speech by Vice President Henry A. Wallace, who described the 20th century as “the Century of the Common Man”. The work honours ordinary men and women – factory workers, farmers, and soldiers – whose efforts underpinned the war effort. The piece was premiered on 12 March 1943, aptly timed with the U.S. tax season, a detail agreed upon between Copland and Goossens.
Scored for brass and percussion alone, the fanfare has echoed far beyond the concert hall. Its noble simplicity and expansive harmonies have inspired film and television themes, from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and John Williams’ film scores to Bollywood cinema and Michael Jackson’s 30th Anniversary concerts – a testament to its enduring resonance.
Bach-Elgar: Fantasia and Fugue in C minor
Little is known about the circumstances under which J. S. Bach composed his Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537 for solo organ. Like many of Bach’s masterpieces, it has inspired transcriptions for various instrumental ensembles, among which the most celebrated is perhaps the orchestral arrangement by Sir Edward Elgar.
In 1920, Elgar hoped to restore the cordial friendship between himself and Richard Strauss, which dated back to the Germen premiere of his Dream of Gerontius in 1901 and was torn by the First World War. The two met over their shared admiration of Bach’s organ works and by the end of the meeting, they agreed to jointly orchestrate the Fantasia and Fugue in C minor – Strauss to orchestrate the Fantasia and Elgar, the Fugue. Writing to his organist friend Ivor Atkins, Elgar described his approach:
“I have orchestrated a Bach fugue in modern way – largish orchestra – you may not approve… many [arrangements] have been made of Bach on the ‘pretty’ scale and I wanted to shew how gorgeous and great and brilliant he would have made himself sound if he had had our means.”
Unfortunately, Strauss did not keep his side of the bargain. When Elgar was later approached by Herbert Brewer, organist of the Gloucester Cathedral and director of the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester in 1922, for a new work to be premiered at the festival, Elgar decided to orchestrate the Fantasia as well. The completed Fantasia and Fugue was performed under Elgar’s baton at the festival in the same year.
Elgar’s choice of BWV 537 was no accident – the lyrical, sombre Fantasia and the energetic, vigorous Fugue made it an ideal vessel for Elgar’s late-Romantic orchestration treatment. Such orchestrations were very much in vogue in early-20th-century Britain, popularized by Sir Henry Wood at the Proms and welcomed The Three Choir Festival, with its strong organ tradition from the three participating cathedrals. Elgar’s arrangement sits squarely in that culture of re-presented Bach with orchestral resources unavailable to him, in line with festival expectations of grandeur.
Contemporary critical response was mixed. While some admired the arrangement for its grandeur; others found it over-sumptuous. Modern reviewers often see it as “insane” but irresistible, a thrillingly extravagant take on Bach that still raises smiles, and roofs.
Rautavaara: Missa a cappella
The composer
Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016) was one of the most prominent Finnish composers after Jean Sibelius and is sometimes considered his musical heir. With a career spanning six decades, he took his time to come to music – he began piano lessons relatively late, at the age of 17, then studied musicology at the University of Helsinki and composition at the Sibelius Academy. He was chosen by Sibelius himself for a Koussevitzky Foundation scholarship, which allowed him to study in the U.S. at the Juilliard School, followed by stints in Switzerland and Germany. After years of study abroad, he returned to Finland to hold various positions at the Sibelius Academy and made his living as a composer, receiving numerous prizes and awards for his music.
Rautavaara’s composition style was varied. Early in his career he started with the neo-classical mode of Hindemith and Stravinsky, then turned to 12-tone serialism before moving on through a lush neo-Romantic style to eventually arrive at an eclectic, “post-modern” style where he blended a wide spectrum of techniques and genres. While not religious in the traditional sense, Rautavaara was fascinated by the spiritual and metaphysical and is fond of referring to himself as a “mystic” composer. This fascination is reflected in many of his compositions, including the Mass we hear today. His oeuvre spans operas, eight symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and a substantial body of choral works. By the time of his death, he had become one of the most frequently performed living composers in Europe.
Missa a cappella
The Missa a cappella as a whole was composed in 2011, a few years before the composer’s death, when Father Arthur Bridge of the Parramatta Diocese in Australia initiated a commission, later joined by the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Cheltenham Festival, Swedish Radio Choir and the Netherlands Broadcasting Companies TROS, AVRO and NTR. The piece was first performed on 25 November 2011 at the Jacobikerk, Utrecht, by Netherlands Radio Choir conducted by Celso Antunes.
The six-movement Mass incorporates Rautavaara’s stand-alone Credo, originally composed in 1972. For decades it circulated on its own, before the composer decided to integrate it into his complete setting of the Mass. Despite the nearly four decades between the composition of the Credo and the other movements, it fits seamlessly into the finished work, as though it had been destined to belong there. The scoring is for unaccompanied choir with frequent sub-divisions and combinations of soloists. Tonight, as in the premiere, the solo lines are sung by members of the choir itself.
The Mass progresses from the warm, homophonic world of the Kyrie, through the dignified but restrained Gloria, the rhythmic and energetic Credo, the hushed reverence of the Sanctus and the intimate, chamber-like Benedictus, to arrive finally at a beautifully contemplative Agnus Dei.
Since its premiere, Missa a cappella has been warmly received by choirs and critics alike, and was first recorded by the Latvian Radio Choir in 2012 on Ondine. Nearly a decade after the composer’s death, the Missa a cappella continue to stand out as a distilled and intimate late work, a final testament to his lifelong fascination with the sacred and the mystic. The fusion of archaic sensibility and contemporary harmonic language has helped it to secure a place as a notable modern Mass setting for unaccompanied choir.
Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast
The Composer
Sir William Walton (1902-1983) was one of the leading British composers of the 20th century. His output over a sixty-year career as a composer ranged from symphonies and concertos to film scores and coronation marches, even though the volume of his work remained relatively small. His best-known works include his poetry-and-music collaboration with Edith Sitwell “Façade”, his first symphony, his viola concerto and Belshazzar’s Feast, which we will hear tonight.
Born in Oldham, Lancashire and the son of a choirmaster, Walton became a chorister at Christ Church, Oxford and was later a student there. He was largely self-taught as a composer and caught the eyes of the literary Sitwell family, who became his early patrons and collaborators, and had virtually adopted Walton. The success of his early work Façade quickly established Walton as a bold new voice, blending modernist techniques with an ear for popular idioms.
Later in life, after settling on the Italian island of Ischia with his wife Susana, some of his works were criticized as old fashioned and his late pieces were dismissed by critics at their premieres. In recent years, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in Walton’s orchestral works, led above all by Sir Antonio Pappano with the London Symphony Orchestra and Edward Gardner with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, who have placed his music alongside Tippett, Vaughan Williams, and Britten at the heart of their British repertoire.
Belshazzar’s Feast
The piece was conceived in 1930, when Edward Clark, a programme planner at the BBC, sought to commission three composers, including Walton, to provide short works for broadcast, specifying a small chorus, a soloist, and an orchestra of no more than fifteen players. That this modest plan grew into Belshazzar’s Feast, with its huge orchestration of expanded woodwind and brass, five percussionists, piano, organ, harps, strings, and two off-stage brass bands, underscores just how far Walton overshot the BBC’s mandate and budget.
Needless to say, the BBC eventually withdrew the commission and Walton was left with a half-completed score and no commission. While he continued to work on the piece in one of the Sitwell family’s estates in Northampton, Sir Thomas Beecham took an interest in the piece, secured the premiere for the 1931 Leeds Triennial Festival. The relatively modest fee of 25 guineas (around £26 at the time) afforded by the festival was later unexpectedly augmented by a composer friend, Lord Berners, who offered £50 for the dedication, which Walton accepted with delight.
The premiere of Belshazzar’s Feast was eventually given on 8 October 1931 at the Leeds Festival, with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Leeds Festival Chorus, baritone soloist Dennis Noble and Malcolm Sargent conducting. The performance was a sensation, hailed by critics and audience alike, and established Walton almost overnight as one of Britain’s leading young composers.
The Story
Belshazzar’s Feast tells the biblical story of King Belshazzar’s blasphemous feast, the mysterious writing on the wall, and the dramatic downfall of Babylon, with a libretto assembled entirely from scripture by Osbert Sitwell. The chorus and baritone soloist take on multiple voices and roles to bring the story vividly to life. Tonight, the baritone role is taken by our conductor, Apollo Wong, who has the rare challenge of both singing and conducting the work.
The piece begins with an ominous trombone call and Isaiah’s prophecy, voiced by the lower voices of the chorus, foretelling the Israelites’ captivity and humiliation in Babylon. The chorus then become the exiles, lamenting their fate by the rivers of Babylon, refusing to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land, and swearing an oath of remembrance and vengeance.
The unaccompanied baritone solo then shifts the scene to Babylon, describing its opulence and Belshazzar’s great and blasphemous feast. In an act of sacrilege, the king and his court drink wine from the sacred vessels looted from the Temple in Jerusalem and praise their many idols.
At the height of the debauchery, the unaccompanied baritone again interjects. A mysterious hand appears and writes upon the wall. In ancient Aramaic appear the words: “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.” The chorus translates: “Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting.” The baritone, as Daniel, delivers the grim verdict: Belshazzar’s reign is ended, he is slain, and Babylon is divided.
Abruptly the music turns jubilant. The chorus, now as Israelites, exult in Babylon’s fall, proclaim God’s judgment, and raise ecstatic Alleluias. Walton unleashes a whirlwind of ever-accelerating, kaleidoscopic choral-orchestral colour, driving the work to one of the most exhilarating conclusions in the modern choral repertoire.
Programme Notes:
Kevin Cheng
The Learners Chorus
Music Director & Conductor: Apollo Wong
Assistant Conductor: Jason Liu
Pianist: Alexander Wong
^ soloists in Rautavaara’s Missa a cappella
The Learners Orchestra
# Concertmaster
* Principal
§ Courtesy of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
University Choir, CA, HKU
Acknowledgements
The Learners Chorus would like to express her gratitude to the following individuals and organizations for their valuable support in the production of this concert:
- Mr. Samuel Huang
- Ms. Bertha Hung
- Ms. Christine Lee
- Mr. Ng Ka Ming
- Ms. Edith Pun
- Mr. Benedict Shea
- Mr. Alexander Wong
- Mr. Vicky Wong
- All players of the Learners Orchestra
- City Performing Arts Services Company
- Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
- Hong Kong Harp Centre
- Methodist International Church Hong Kong
- The Force Image
- University Choir, CA, HKU
The Learners Chorus would also like to thank the following individuals for their generous sponsorship of free tickets for students and/or donation to Methodist International Church, HK’s charitable project to help typhoon victims in the Northern part of the Philippines.
- Mr. Andrew Chan
- Dr. Chiu Shui Wah
- Dr. Edward Lai
- Mr. Bill Leung
- Ms. Annie Wong
- Mr. KC Wong