Charles Kwong: Piano Concerto “Hereafters” (2023) (world première) Commissioned by Hong Kong Sinfonietta with sponsorship from CASH Music Fund Conductor: Clemens Schuldt Piano: Colleen Lee 李嘉齡 (HKS Artist Associate 2010-2011) Composer: Charles Kwong 鄺展維 (HKS Artist Associate 2020-2022) Hong Kong Sinfonietta 香港小交響樂團 26.4.2025 (Sat) Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall Concert details: https://hksl.org/concert/colleen-lee-hong-kong-sinfonietta-2025/ About Charles Kwong: https://hksl.org/composer/charles-kwong/ HKS Commissions & Premières: https://hksl.org/new-works/ https://www.facebook.com/hongkongsinfonietta https://www.instagram.com/hksinfonietta/

Charles Kwong Lullabies (2022) for orchestra commissioned by LCSD, the Government of Hong Kong for the 60th anniversary of the Hong Kong City Hall London Philharmonic Orchestra Ed Gardner, conductor (performance filmed at London Battersea Arts Centre in July 2022 and subsequently screened at Hong Kong City Hall in August 2022)

February 9, 2024. LaBar Performance Hall, O'Neill Hall of Music, University of Notre Dame. Patrick Yim, violin (www.patrickyimviolin.com) Loo Sze-wang, sheng (@loo.s.wang) Charles Kwong, composer (https://www.charleskwong.com) Charles Kwong, Zürich Dec 2023: A programme note is not entirely unlike a title. You are not entirely unlike me. Sound is not entirely unlike silence. Bamboo is not entirely unlike wood. Experience is not entirely unlike experiment. Noise is not entirely unlike harmony. Loops are not entirely unlike spirals. Two is not entirely unlike one. Inheritance is not entirely unlike routines. Timber is not entirely unlike flesh. Writing a solo is not entirely unlike writing a duo. Music is not entirely unlike weather. Tradition is not entirely unlike invention. Names are not entirely unlike relations. Inhale is not entirely unlike exhale. Individuality is not entirely unlike heresy. Tone is not entirely unlike tempo. Time is not entirely unlike Space. Art is not entirely unlike entropy. Making an instrument is not entirely unlike training a musician. Patterns are not entirely unlike essence. Authenticity is not entirely unlike coloniality. Instructions are not entirely unlike visions. Composing is not entirely unlike possessing. East-West dichotomy is not entirely unlike geocentrism. Clusters are not entirely unlike chords. Randomising is not entirely unlike designing. Memory is not entirely unlike reality. Identity is not entirely unlike fictionality. Breathing is not entirely unlike bowing. Playing a duo is not entirely unlike playing a concerto. They are not entirely unlike you. Cultures are not entirely unlike echo chambers. Listening is not entirely unlike praying. Authority is not entirely unlike intransigency. Notations are not entirely unlike prompts. Expression is not entirely unlike reflection. Present is not entirely unlike an orientation. Norms are not entirely unlike censorship. An ensemble is not entirely unlike an ecology. Freedom is not entirely unlike probability. Emotions are not entirely unlike codes. Creating a score is not entirely unlike transcribing a future. Self-discovery is not entirely unlike self-fulfilling prophecy. Theory is not entirely unlike liturgy. Now is not entirely unlike here. Perfection is not entirely unlike presumption. Searching for lost time is not entirely unlike remembering things past. A title is not entirely unlike a prelude. Anticipation is not entirely unlike memories. A Text is not entirely unlike a map. Sheng is not entirely unlike violin. The answers are not entirely unlike 42. The cupful of liquid from hitchhiking to the galaxy is not entirely unlike tea.

#EnsembleRecherche #NeueMusik #ContemporaryMusic #Musik #Music #Konzert #Concert In our series "Spotted", it is all about discovering and seeking. We aim to search for local specifics in our global present. We ask ourselves: Is there any reference to tradition here? And if so: what even is tradition? Again and again, we encounter our own prejudices. And the longer we search, the more colorful, diverse and ambiguous it becomes! In this "Spotted"-episode, we present music by Hong Kong-based composers – curated by and with Charles Kwong. Check out the playlist for the complete program: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHNY6H3FHE1YKUqXFZ3_GzVc7cOn2pPg3 Abonniert unseren Kanal: https://www.youtube.com/@ensemblerecherche?sub_confirmation=1 Webseite: https://www.ensemble-recherche.de/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ensemblerecherche/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ensemblerecherche/

Charles Kwong: Imaginary beings 1 for Jeanne-Marie Conquer (2020) Featured Artist: Jeanne-Marie Conquer (violin) Featured Artist interview: www.project21st.org/playfurthervideo-jmc ========== Play Further! Video Series An Online Contemporary Music Showcase Presented by some of today’s most distinguished musicians, "Play Further!" video series consist of new commissions and rarely recorded contemporary music works. Featured Artists: Mario Caroli (flute) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VOEMiZs-jxCrDyDq1qe5llOypV94Ru0 Jeanne-Marie Conquer (violin) - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VOEMiZs-jzI_EgIl2gsdnA4490ZVK18 - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VOEMiZs-jyQj6OOp2_rXKAOxJ4qrut_ (Works by participants of the Play Further! Composer Workshop with Jeanne-Marie Conquer and Johannes Schöllhorn) Duo Dillon-Torquati (cello and piano) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VOEMiZs-jz0MZAEddvt7oNMKvlbxkWo Sabrina Ma (percussion) https://youtu.be/iTGJ3hF3ePc Tosiya Suzuki and Tadashi Tajima (recorder and shakuhachi) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VOEMiZs-jx6AzHAi7rJvY3Wd_7BZJ0b www.project21st.org/playfurther “Play Further!” is financially supported by the Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The content of this programme does not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Charles Kwong: Imaginary beings 2 for Tadashi Tajima and Tosiya Suzuki (2020) Tosiya Suzuki 鈴木俊哉 (recorder) Tadashi Tajima 田嶋直士 (shakuhachi) Featured Artist interview: www.project21st.org/playfurthervideo-ts ========== Play Further! Video Series An Online Contemporary Music Showcase Presented by some of today’s most distinguished musicians, "Play Further!" video series consist of new commissions and rarely recorded contemporary music works. Featured Artists: Mario Caroli (flute) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VOEMiZs-jxCrDyDq1qe5llOypV94Ru0 Jeanne-Marie Conquer (violin) - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VOEMiZs-jzI_EgIl2gsdnA4490ZVK18 - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VOEMiZs-jyQj6OOp2_rXKAOxJ4qrut_ (Works by participants of the Play Further! Composer Workshop with Jeanne-Marie Conquer and Johannes Schöllhorn) Duo Dillon-Torquati (cello and piano) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VOEMiZs-jz0MZAEddvt7oNMKvlbxkWo Sabrina Ma (percussion) https://youtu.be/iTGJ3hF3ePc Tosiya Suzuki and Tadashi Tajima (recorder and shakuhachi) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VOEMiZs-jx6AzHAi7rJvY3Wd_7BZJ0b www.project21st.org/playfurther “Play Further!” is financially supported by the Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The content of this programme does not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

support us on Patreon : : https://www.patreon.com/scorefollower web : : https://scorefollower.org/ more info below ⤵ performed by Tadashi Tajima (shakuhachi), Tosiya Suzuki (recorder) Imaginary beings 2 by Charles Kwong (2020) https://www.charleskwong.com/ https://tosiyasuzuki.weebly.com/ this work was selected in the Fall 2021 #FollowMyScore call for works uploaded with permission from Charles Kwong on behalf of the performers 00:00 Imaginary beings 2 13:30 Performance Notes This video is protected by copyright and/or related rights. Viewing and sharing this link is permitted only for non-commercial uses ―― follow us for new videos and news! tiktok : https://www.tiktok.com/@scorefollower twitter : https://www.twitter.com/incipitsify facebook : https://www.facebook.com/scorefollower/ join our community on Discord : https://discord.gg/x2mdqYY

Premiered 07 July 2016 by the Eastman BroadBand Deidre Huckabay, flutes Sammy Lesnick, clarinet Brant Blackard, percussion Daniel Pesca, piano Hanna Hurwitz, violin Ailbhe McDonagh, cello Tim Weiss, conductor Auditorioum Cittá di Maccagno, Italy www.soundSCAPEfestival.org

Charles Kwong Elsewhere (2022) for mobilised and spatialised ensemble at KKL Lucern Concert Hall commissioned by LUCERNE FESTIVAL for LUCERNE FESTIVAL FORWARD 2022. World Premiere took place in the KKL Lucerne, Concert Hall on November 20 2022 by an Ensemble of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL CONTEMPORARY ORCHESTRA as part of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL FORWARD 2022. Elsewhere was to be performed between the V. and VI. movements of Unsuk Chin's Gougalon in this concert.

With concept and music by Charles Kwong, site-specific work “Lifelike” is part of “Hi! Flora, Fauna” art project organised by the Art Promotion Office. The Macao-based architect duo Impromptu Projects has been specially commissioned to design in the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens large-scale installations that resemble a “garden within a garden” built by bamboo scaffolding, with structures and forms echoing the woods in the garden. Originally planned to take place in December and February, the first two performances of “Lifelike” have been cancelled due to the pandemic. The creative team has worked on two film versions of the work, and we are excited to share part one with you! LIFELIKE - When Zoo Becomes a Metaphor Charles Kwong To imitate nature, to abstract from nature, and to empathise nature, are an eternal subject in music. From High Mountains and Flowing Water to The Distant Call of the Deers and from The Four Seasons to Pastoral, none of the musical creations at all times and from all backgrounds intended to faithfully present the sounds of nature. Instead, taking nature as inspiration, musicians exercise their imagination to transform it, reducing it into a symbolic or metaphorical presence in their music— musical sounds symbolise natural phenomena, whereas nature is used as a metaphor for the infinite developments in musical movements. To present nature in music, and to present music in nature—Lifelike is a series of site-specific musical compositions that build on the concept of “learning from nature” and weave music into the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Nonetheless, the theme is not nature in general but one with a unique existence within “gardens”. This kind of nature displayed in gardens, parks and zoos is man-made and manipulated. Both active and static lives in these settings are plucked from their habitats to live and be managed in confined areas. This form of existence is a distorted state of nature, humans taming nature, as well as their attempts to understand and preserve nature. ‍Lifelike mimics and responds to all the sounds in the gardens. It derives from the sounds in nature, but even more so from the order created in the gardens, an institutionalised space. As the piece removes music performance from the music hall setting to a park, how the spatial construction in the gardens recreates the relationships between the life forms and the natural system becomes an important experiential aspect besides sounds. The architect duo Impromptu Projects has been specially commissioned to design in the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens large-scale installations that resemble a “garden within a garden” built by bamboo scaffolding. The structures and forms echo the woods in the garden while further dividing the space within the garden. During the performance of Lifelike, musicians and audience roving or pausing in the “garden within a garden” are separated by bamboo scaffolds which act as both cages and stages. Taking place among these abstract woods, cages and stages, the music performance establishes a situation with spectators and spectacles, as well as the relationship between them. However, the fluidity and openness of the work blur the line between the two roles, as the music develop according to the musicians’ observation of the surroundings—the audience and the musicians are thus both the spectators and the spectacles. Through music performance, Lifelike contextualises the situation of an artificialised and institutionalised nature , in order to explore what John Berger was referring to by “zoo as a metaphor”. When a performance takes place in a zoo, who is the spectator and who is the spectacle? When visitors, as bystanders, marvel at exotic beings in a zoo, do they also become a part of the system and order created for the site? Are the cages, where animals are kept in and displayed as rare treasures, also auditoriums for the animals to watch the show at the other end? As visitors anticipate another intriguing move from across the cage, do the crated animals have any anticipations for the other side? Are the lives on the two sides of a cage equal? “Learning from nature”, Lifelike is not to be an acoustic verisimilitude, but to present the existence and state of the beings in the gardens, in the form of music performance. When a zoo becomes a lifelike metaphor, what does this metaphor refer to? http://lifelike.hk

Charles Kwong Picocosmos - 10-in-1 Symphonic Play Hong Kong Children's Symphony Orchestra Annual Concert 2024 14 Aug 2024 Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall Principal Conductor - Jeff Leung #charleskwong #picocosmos #hkcso #contemporarymusic #hkcomposer #youthorchestra #concert

Charles Kwong: Lux æterna (2019) (Commissioned and premiere by Ponte) Ponte Orchestra 17.11.2019 Conductor: Stephen Lam Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall 鄺展維：永恆之光 (2019) (委約首演) Ponte Orchestra 17.11.2019 指揮：林屴汧 香港大會堂音樂廳 «Lux æterna» is commissioned by the Ponte Singers and Orchestra for the concert commemorating the 30th anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall. The title of the work came from the liturgy of the Catholic Requiem mass, where “Lux æterna” could be the text of the communion in some setting. The text of Lux æterna prays to the Lord for the eternal light to shine on the deads, and eternal rest to be given to them. Unlike a requiem, my work «Lux æterna» is not written for voices, but for an orchestra of strings. Instead of setting a liturgical text, the work is a sonic landscape inspired by the yearning for such eternal light, which we have never seen in life, yet we cling to it during the worst time of darkness. I believe, it is such hope and faith in the light enabled the people to stay strong and stand up to fight against all the oppressions in history. The Fall of Berlin Wall was one of these moments in history when the light shined upon humanity. We are still celebrating this moment 30 years later, not only to remember how brave and selfless the fighters of freedom were in the past, but also to contemplate what made them strong and fearless in face of the tremendous adversity. «Lux æterna» is a homage to all the fighters of freedom in all age and all nations. 《永恆之光》由Ponte管弦樂團及合唱團委約，為了柏林圍牆倒下三十周年的紀念音樂會而寫。作品的題來自天主教的安魂彌撒儀式，當中「永恆之光」有時會成為領主曲的歌詞，內容為向天主祈求永恆之光光照到死者，並讓永恆的安息臨到他們。 與安魂曲不同，《永恆之光》此作並未用上人聲，而是為弦樂團而寫。作品並非將禮儀經文配上音樂，而是從對永恆之光的渴求所啟發的聲景想像。這樣的光明我們在今世未曾見過，卻是在最黑暗的時間裡成為我們的依靠。我相信也是這對光明的希望與信念，讓人們可以一次又一次在歷史的各種壓迫裡堅強抵抗。柏林圍牆的倒下，正是其中一個歷史中的光輝時刻。我們三十年後仍要回顧，不單是要記著過去為自由而戰的鬥士如何勇敢和堅強，也是從中反思，是甚麼令他們在巨大的逆境當中保持堅強和無懼。 《永恆之光》是對各世代各種國度裡，為自由而戰的鬥士的致敬。