THIS time last year Richard Pontzious was in danger of losing his famous cool. His problem these days is keeping his feet on the ground.
''Suppose you had a dream of starting an Asian Youth Orchestra, but you didn't have any money and nobody knew what the hell you were talking about,'' said the tall American settling into legend-making mode the other day.
''Then suddenly, you not only had such an orchestra, but one of such renown, that within four years, it was being invited to play in the best concert halls of Europe.'' This is not a favourite fantasy of the founder and executive director of the AYO.
On August 8 - or if you prefer, on the fantastically auspicious eighth day of the eighth month at 8pm - the grand adventure will start when 99 immaculately groomed young musicians take their places at the Cultural Centre Concert Hall.
Under conductor Eri Klas, currently music director of the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Denmark, they will present a challenging programme including the Hongkong premiere of Alfred Schnittke's Concerto for Violin, Amplified Piano and Orchestra which will feature acclaimed Latvian-born violinist Gidon Kremer as soloist.
As the members of the AYO take their final bows, they will have to struggle to remember the Pontzious points on professional behaviour, because there's going to be an awful temptation to leap around yelling: ''Aye-ya, off to Europe tomorrow!'' By the end of August, they will have played in some of the world's most historic concert halls including the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Kulturpalast in Dresden and the Schauspielhaus in Berlin, and appeared by special invitation at the prestigious Schleswig-Holstein Festival - an almost unbelievable coup for any orchestra, let alone one made up of 15-25 year-olds from across Asia.