Solomon Bard has packed more into his 92 years than most people would in several lifetimes. He's a doctor (Bard set up the University of Hong Kong health service), an accomplished musician and an amateur archaeologist who went on to head the Antiquities and Monuments Office. He recently published a memoir, chronicling his family's flight from Siberia to Harbin while Russia was racked by civil war, and how he eventually made a home in Hong Kong, where he helped fight the Japanese invasion during the second world war.
But Bard, who has lived in Sydney for the past 15 years, isn't back in town for the release of his book, Light and Shade: Sketches from an Uncommon Life. He's returned for two concerts this week as guest conductor with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (HKCO).
'It's the music that brings me here. The book can be launched without me,' says Bard, worn out but in high spirits after an intense two-hour rehearsal with the 80-strong ensemble. 'It takes a lot of energy to pay attention to the solos and the orchestra and make them work together, and put something of your own into it.'
He will conduct the Butterfly Lovers Concerto, a classical Chinese favourite that he performed for his debut with the orchestra almost 29 years ago. 'I know this work very well. It's still familiar, even though I haven't played with [the musicians] for many years,' he says, with a twinkle in his eyes.
The Jewish emigre has always had music in his life. He was born in Chita, eastern Siberia, and first learned the violin from an uncle. It changed his life, he says. 'I learned about discipline and realised I wanted to live a life with very different experiences.'
His parents continued to nurture his interest after they moved to Harbin in 1924, and enrolled him in a music academy, where he studied violin, harmony and orchestration.