Hong Kong's junior voices may be soaring high right now, with several local schools coming out top in the recent World Choir Games held on the mainland, but few of these young talents are expected to pursue a career in choral singing once they reach adult life.
Both Diocesan Girls' and Boys' schools held off stiff competition from more than 400 groups to claim first prize in their own categories, plus the top award, Musica Sacra, in the mixed choir event. The SKH Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School, too, walked away with Hong Kong's fourth gold at the world's largest choral competition.
But according to veterans of the local music scene, the current success, though impressive, is all but ephemeral and has little, if any, impact on the chorus scene.
'School choirs are trained to aim for trophies, which bring honour and recognition to the school, but usually disperse afterwards,' says Barbara Fei Ming-yee, founding artistic director of the Allegro Singers since 1964.
The soprano says it's a pity not to keep these ensembles together for long-term development.
Richard Tsang Yip-fat, a music professor at the Institute of Education, points to the city's lack of a choral tradition, such as church-going and community participation, for the loss of interest among youngsters in this art.