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The Society, first registered under the Societies Ordinance in 1995 and now incorporated as a non-profit making company, is a well-established institution in Hong Kong, dedicated to the promotion of music and music related activities. These include public recitals and concerts, an extensive outreach program involving master classes, workshops, lectures and presentations, an annual music festival and a triennial international piano competition, all of which contributing to augment further the reputation of Hong Kong as a major cultural centre in Asia.

The Society believes that classical music is neither an elitist nor a minority interest. The success of the Society’s activities is based on the notion that Hong Kong audiences deserve nothing but the highest quality that the local and international music scenes can offer. The Society’s activities are closely interrelated in order to offer a diverse set of performances and outreach activities drawing on continuity of themes and of participants. The Society believes that, building up audience loyalty and following requires not only consistent high quality of what is being presented but also continuity of the presentations.

Every third year since 2005, that is, in 2005,2008 and 2011, the Society ran its biggest event,TheHong Kong International Piano Competition, with a truly exceptional, if not unique jury. The Competition aims at presenting not only an exceptional group of candidates but also an exceptional music-making and music related event. Other innovations included the members of jury performing as well as judging. As part of the Society’s plan to offer an integrated and continuous series of activities, the triennial Competitions have been linked by annual Joy of Music Festivals taking place in-between Competitions and, since 2011, also during the Competitions. Festivals were presented in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, a special substitute event in 2014 and in 2015.

The Festivals bring together (in performances, master classes, workshops and presentations), members of the jury of the Competition, all the previous first prize winners of the Competition, first prize winners of other important music competitions, as well as invited world-class artists from all over the world.

The Competition has now established itself as one of the top international piano competitions, attracting scores of exceptionally talented candidates from around the world. The next Hong Kong International Piano Competition is scheduled to run between the 27th September and the 13th October 2016 with The Joy of Music Festival running in tandem, with its first performance to take place on the 26thSeptember 2016.

At its earliest stages , from 1999 (when it was launched) onwards , the Society has been presenting The Winners Series, which brings to Hong Kong the first prizewinners of major international music competitions.

In 2001 the Society launched The Masters Series, an outreach initiative involving well established master teachers highly acclaimed not only for their performances but also for their teaching abilities and capacity to deliver workshops and presentations. The series so far has featured masterclasses in piano, cello, guitar, string quartet and conducting, all open to students, teachers and the public in general, completely free of charge.

The Winners Series and The Masters Series were then fully integrated into the annual Joy of Music Festival, which, every three years, is run in tandem with the Hong Kong International Piano Competition.

The Alpha Omega Sound – The recording label of The Chopin Society of Hong Kong

In 2008 the Chopin Society launched its own recording label, the Alpha Omega Sound, which is releasing a varied and unusual series of archival CDs, re-mastered at the famous Abbey Road Studios, as well as recordings made specifically for its label.

Adding one more record label to the plethora which already exists in a crowded field needs some explanations. Ours are very simple:

We start with an exclusive and exciting set of recordings, some truly unique, which we will be releasing in a steady stream over the years to come. This is not a “one-off” label.
We have the agreement of a number of internationally known artists who are, and will be, recording for us. We are determined that purely commercial considerations will not limit the repertoire and recordings which we will be presenting, thus ensuring that our audience will hear unusual, rarely recorded and exciting combinations of composers and of instruments.
All our original recordings are done by top recording engineers in top studios and then all these recordings are re-mastered at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London. To ensure the best sonic quality right across the spectrum of our productions, our CDs are pressed by Sony DADC in Austria. We plan to release carefully selected titles from our catalogue on vinyl LPs also specially mastered at the Abbey Road Studios.
Last but not least, this is a recording label registered and trade-marked in Hong Kong, emphasizing the Society’s commitment to its home base and home audience.

The Society is particularly proud of its exclusive series of archival recordings from the superb, and totally unknown, collection of SODRE, the state TV and radio organization of Uruguay.

These are live recordings from the 1950s and 1960s carefully re-mastered at the Abbey Road Studios and featuring never-before-released recordings of J. Heifetz, D. Oistrakh, L. Kogan, M. Elman, A. Segovia, C. Arrau, W. Giesekin
g, F. Gulda, L. Kraus, and M. Anderson.

Already released: From the SODRE COLLECTION:

* The Sampler
* JASCHA HEIFETZ ( violin) - Brooks Smith ( piano)
* DAVID OISTRAKH (violin) - Vladimir Yampolsky (piano)
* LEONID KOGAN (violin) – Andrei Mytnik ( piano)
* MISCHA ELMAN (violin) – Joseph Seiger (piano)

Specifically recorded for its label:

* Alvaro Pierri (guitar). Guitar Sonatas, Vol. 1, works by Paganini, Ponce, Torroba and Ginastera. With the present CD, Alvaro Pierri is embarking on a long term project with The Alpha Omega Sound, to record a comprehensive series of sonatas specifically composed for guitar and spanning the 19th to the 21st centuries. This CD was recorded as well as re-mastered at the Abbey Road Studios in London.
* Ilya Rashkovskiy (piano). Fantasias for Piano. Works by Mozart, Chopin, Liszt and Scriabin. Ilya won the first prize in the first Hong Kong International Piano Competition 2005. This is a studio recording made in Hong Kong and re-mastered at the Abbey Road Studios.
* Rachel Cheung (piano). Compositions by Mozart, Chopin, Schubert, Liszt and Poulenc. This is a studio recording made in Hong Kong and re-mastered at the Abbey Road Studios.
* Jinsang Lee (piano). Hiller-Mendelssohn-Chopin: Making Music among Friends.
This is a double CD containing piano music by these three composers, played on Steinway period and contemporary pianos.
Jinsang won the first prize in the second Hong Kong International Piano Competition 2008.
This is a studio recording made in Hong Kong and re-mastered at the Abbey Road Studios.
* Giuseppe Andaloro (piano) and Giovanni Sollima (cello) – The Joy of Music
Works for cello and piano by Dowland, Beethoven, E.Sollima, G.Sollima and N.Kapustin.
Giuseppe won the first prize in the third Hong Kong International Piano Competition 2011.
This CD is a live recording of a performance which took place during the Joy of Music Festival 2013 and was re-master at the Abbey Road Studios.
* The Society has also issued a CLP Holdings sponsored double CD, later to be released under the Society’s own label, featuring Li Mingqiang, one of the leading piano teachers and music advisors in Hong Kong who was, at the time of these recordings, one of the major pianists in the PRC.

We hope that music lovers in Hong Kong will continue to support the Society’s future activities.

 

Dr. Andrew Freris
Chairman,
The Chopin Society of Hong Kong Ltd.

Copyright © 2015 The Chopin Society of Hong Kong. All rights reserved.