LAST WEDNESDAY, inside the concert hall of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (APA), away from the thunderous weather, a group of musicians went about their business making music, progress and history. Next month, for the first time since the school opened two decades ago, APA students will perform with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, not as guests but as partners. The Harmonist - The World of John Adams is a programme that will mark the beginning of what's hoped will be a mutually beneficial relationship between the two government-funded bodies. For Edo de Waart, artistic director and chief conductor of the Hong Kong Phil, and APA dean of music Benedict Cruft, the partnership is logical - and significant. Music students get to work with professionals, gaining the experience and exposure needed to hone their skills and raise their standard, while the orchestra cultivates a new generation of home-grown talent. It's remarkable only that no one thought of it before. De Waart puts that down to the culture - or, perhaps, lack of it - in Hong Kong. 'Being in a place like Hong Kong - where one has to be frank and say, 'This is not a city that's famous for its culture, certainly not its western culture' - we that form the small arts community should work together as much as possible and towards one goal,' he says. 'Especially in a place where the culture is to put something together - usually from abroad, or that's flown in with a lot of money - and that something leaves nothing behind.' De Waart says the APA, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Hong Kong Ballet, the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre and the Hong Kong Phil - which are part of the city's cultural fabric - should work together to create a 'high-quality arts life that's ours, not flown in'. It's not unusual overseas for professional orchestras to have close ties with a music school or conservatory. De Waart cites the Boston University Tanglewood Institute as a good example. 'There, you have the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the institute running the summer school, so all the students can just walk into its rehearsals. The orchestra always has good conductors, good soloists and great works,' he says. 'Also, the conductors who go there usually do one rehearsal or sometimes more with the student orchestra, so there's this incredible pollination, where you really get the best from each other.' According to Cruft - a violinist who was, from 1980 to 1984, associate concertmaster with the Hong Kong Phil - APA students only occasionally get to work with overseas masters and musicians. For instance, Trevor Pinnock (director and founder of Britain's English Concert) was at the APA last October conducting a Mozart programme. French conductor Francois-Xavier Roth has performed with students in the academy's French symphonic programme for the past two years, and is returning in May for a student dance event. But the collaboration with the Hong Kong Phil and de Waart is a long-term plan. Cruft says that, even though it hasn't been easy fitting everyone around the rehearsal schedules for the John Adams concert, it's been worth the effort. The programme is divided into three parts: de Waart conducting the Academy String Orchestra in Shaker Loops; students performing Grand Pianola Music with Hong Kong Phil principals under the baton of Harmen Cnossen; and de Waart conducting students in Harmonielehre. 'We're doing all but one of the rehearsals here in the academy,' Crufts says. 'The idea is that students who aren't involved can come and listen. I want as many of our students who aren't actually playing to come in and observe not just how a professional orchestra behaves and responds to a conductor but to observe how Edo de Waart interacts with a symphony orchestra and gets them to play in the ways he wants. 'This is something students aren't familiar with. They don't get many opportunities to get to rehearsals and they don't see how it works on the professional level,' he says. De Waart says he's been surprised by how ignorant some students are about what's required of them if they join professional orchestras or music ensembles. 'When orchestras hold auditions, the discrepancy between what we need and expect, and what a lot of students deliver is sometimes shocking,' he says. 'It's everywhere in the world. At some auditions we say to each other, 'What do these kids think we're doing here?'' Cruft agrees. 'They have no idea what standard is required,' he says. So, there's clearly a need for students to understand what it takes to make a living as a professional. On the other hand, cracking the whip may not be the best way to get this message across. 'I've been very nice and friendly with the students,' says de Waart, who's known for not mincing his words and for his no-nonsense attitude. '[At each rehearsal] we'll turn on the clamps a little bit more,' he says. 'What it should produce at the end, ideally, is for students to be extremely proud of what they have done. That's because they play this all by themselves. 'There are no teachers and, in the Harmonielehre, they play with the philharmonic. They'll perform at a level that they probably don't do a lot.' Sixteen-year-old Lio Kuok-wai, who performed a Mozart piano concerto with the Hong Kong Phil in 2003 and is now a full-time APA student, says he's excited about Adam's Grand Pianola Music. 'It's my first time to play such a contemporary piece and it's a big challenge because I have to concentrate on the details with a clear mind and with precision. And the conductor [Cnossen] is very accurate in rhythm, so I'm learning a great deal from him.' Le Hoai-nam, 25, an APA graduate who's on an exchange programme, says the project has given students a great opportunity in being able to work with de Waart - and a lot of enjoyment. The 63-year-old conductor says that's part of what he also hopes to achieve through this collaboration: to instil a sense of joy of learning in students. 'It's not brain surgery,' he says. 'Nobody's going to die if you play a wrong note. It's about finding the balance for a young person, to make them use their abilities to the fullest, but not to think that the world would be destroyed if they have an evening that hasn't gone so well. 'What we're most afraid of, with young people especially, is that they grow up being so concerned about not making a mistake that this spontaneity goes out of the music making.' Cruft says his students have been coping well, and that the joint project is a great learning experience for them, whether playing or observing offstage. 'Yes,' says de Waart. 'I think in the future we can do very nice things together.' The Harmonist - The World of John Adams, April 15, 8pm, Cultural Centre Concert Hall, TST, $120, $200, Urbtix. Inquiries: 2734 9009
