Students Showcase Innovative Music Creations at July 12 Concert in Kwai Tsing Theatre

"Innovative Music-making Journey to China: MO x e-Orch" concert to showcase musical achievements

The public concert of the Innovative Music Making: MO x e-Orch music training programme during the 2024/25 academic year will be held at 7.30pm on July 12 (Saturday) at the Auditorium of Kwai Tsing Theatre, under the title "Innovative Music-making Journey to China: MO x e-Orch", to showcase the students' achievements. The programme is organised by the Music Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, in collaboration with the Education University of Hong Kong.

Four digital music orchestras (e-Orchs) formed by about 80 students participating in the training programme from the Buddhist Chan Wing Kan Memorial School, Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Primary School, Chan Sui Ki (La Salle) Primary School and St. Rose of Lima's School will showcase their original collaborative multimedia works at the concert. They will also collaborate with the string and Chinese music ensembles of the Music Office to perform original and arranged works. Musicians from the e-Orch@EdUHK Contemporary Music and Digital Instrument Lab will also be invited to present their original works combining music and technology. Various awards and certificates of attendance will also be presented to participating students at the concert as encouragement.

Apart from original works of the students, the concert also presents world premieres of local composers Wat Nga-man's "Lion Dance" and Lau Hiu-lam's "The Guardians of The Underground Empire", which are commissioned by the Music Office with sponsorship from the CASH (Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong) Music Fund. Rearrangements of Ren Guang's "Colourful Clouds Chasing the Moon" and the traditional Chinese music "Evening Song of the Fishermen" by Lau and Wat respectively, will also be performed in the concert.

To promote the integration of music and technology on school campuses, the Music Office launched the first Innovative Music Making: MO x e-Orch music training programme in 2022 for students of participating primary and secondary schools to form e-Orchs and learn musical knowledge and music creation with the use of tablets.

Tickets priced at $70 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone bookings, please call 3166 1288. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2158 6467 or 3842 7776 or visitwww.lcsd.gov.hk/en/mo/activities/schoolprogrammes/arttech/24art/2025imm.html.

The concert is one of the programmes of the Chinese Culture Festival (CCF) 2025. For more information about programmes and activities of the CCF 2025, please visit www.ccf.gov.hk.

Notes exchange service and electronic lai-see for Chinese New Year

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

As the Chinese New Year draws near, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the three note-issuing banks (The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited and Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited) announced today (January 13) that new notes and good-as-new notes, i.e. used notes which are in good condition and suitable for use as lai-see, will be available for exchange at branches of the three note-issuing banks from February 3 (Tuesday) to February 16 (Monday).

The HKMA encourages the public to use electronic channels including the Faster Payment System available via online or mobile banking, or other e-wallet services for giving lai-see. Giving electronic lai-see is simple and convenient, and will contribute to sustainable development by reducing the usage of physical red packets and banknotes. Major banks and electronic payment operators will encourage giving electronic lai-see by various promotional programmes. The public may refer to the details of these programmes as and when announced by banks and operators.

The three note-issuing banks will put in place appropriate measures to facilitate the notes exchange, including:

(1)

Advancing the opening hour to 8am on the first 3 days of the service period, i.e. February 3 (Tuesday) to February 5 (Thursday), and dedicating the aforesaid additional operation hour, i.e. 8am to 9am, exclusively for providing the notes exchange service;

(2)

Offering online booking service for both new notes and good-as-new notes starting from January 27 (Tuesday), details of which will be announced by individual note-issuing banks within next week; and

(3)

Putting in place crowd management measures such as distributing physical tickets and implementing queue management when needed.

Members of the public who desire to use cash for giving lai-see may wish to check for any remaining stock of new notes or good-as-new notes at home before going to a bank. Also, there is no need to rush to exchange for new notes and good-as-new notes during the first few days of the service period as banks will ensure the supply of these notes throughout the service period.

Source: AI-found images