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The Society held its inaugural concert in 1956 and was registered the following year. One to two concerts were held every year. Orchestral accompaniment was used in performance in October 1957 and December 1958. The lack of suitable municipal venues meant that the performances were held in schools and churches. The Society had settled into a schedule of about two concerts a year. Since the opening of the City Hall in Central in 1962, the Society took advantage of this new performing venue and presented all its concerts there for the rest of the decade. Frank Huang conducted the Society between 1962 and 1967, when Dr Wong Wing Hee was appointed Conductor. From 1963, all concerts, bar one, were performed to orchestral accompaniment. The 1970s saw a number of new developments.
A members' recital concert was held in November 1977. There was
a period of collaboration with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
and we took part in performance with visiting orchestras - BBC
Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
The Society also went on concert tours to the Philippines (1972
& 1975), Macau (1976) and Taiwan (1978). The Society tackled a
Chinese work for the first time in 1976: Huang-tze's cantata "Song
of Eternal Lament". The Society averaged some 4 concerts a year in this decade. There was a repeat of the Members' Recital Concert in 1982. Tours include Singapore in 1983, Bejing in 1984 (the first China Tour) and Macau in 1988 and 1989. The Hong Kong Cultural Centre opened in 1989 and the Society performed at the Opening Festival. The Hong Kong Japanese Club Chorus first performed together with the Society in 1988 in the first of an annual series of Hong Kong Japan Joint Charity Concerts to raise money for the Community Chest. The Hong Kong Sinfonietta grew out of an orchestral ensemble organized to accompany the chorus in the second of these concerts and has regularly accompanied the Society in its performances since. Dr Wong Wing Hee retired from the post of Conductor in 1985, though he continued to conduct the Society chorus in many subsequent performances. The Society commissioned two works from local composers: Te Deum by Dr Chan Wing Wah (1992) and Symphonic Psalms in Three Parts by Dr Victor Chan (1994). Further tours this decade took the Society to Vancouver (1992), Xiamen (1993), Shanghai (1994), Taiwan (1997), and Israel (1998) as well as Macau (1991, 1997). The 1992 and 1994 concert tours were special in that they were joint tours with the Vancouver Oratorio Society, a sister organization founded by former members of HKOS who had emigrated to Canada. Members of the Society were invited to sing in a New Year's Concert at the end of 1998 in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The Society actively participated in the celebrations surrounding the handover of Hong Kong back to China, singing in four concerts just before and three in the week after the big event. The Society took part in a record 22 performances and two concert tours in 1997. The Society launched the Friends of HKOS society in 1996 and a newsletter, Laudate in 1997 to help external and internal promotion. A Web site was planned for launch in the millenium. Annual Members' Concerts were instituted in 1998. The Society recorded two CDs with Hugo in 1996 and 1998. The Taiwan Symphony Orchestra made live recordings of the 1997 Concert Tour and distributed the CDs to promote understanding of music in Taiwan. A live recording of a Verdi Requiem performance in July 1999 was made into a CD by PhonoArt. Prof Chan Wing Wah was appointed Music Director in 1995. The founder of the Society, Chu Man Wai, passed away in January 1999. Entering into the new millenium, the Society will continue to promote choral music in Hong Kong. |
