Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra founded drum festival to ‘scare away’ Sars. 20 years on, it returns to ‘drum up the spirit’ of the city post-Covid
- Founded in 2003 to expel bad energy during the Sars epidemic, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra’s Drum Festival returns bigger than ever for its 20th anniversary
- Citywide drum lessons and competitions will lead up to the festival’s finale, at West Kowloon Art Park, where a carnival and live performances will take place
Drums are among the world’s oldest musical instruments, and can be played to dictate the rhythm of a piece of music. In traditional Chinese folklore, they are also thought to “scare away bad things”, says Celina Chin Man-wah, executive director of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (HKCO).
That is why, two decades ago, the troupe founded the Hong Kong Drum Festival – to give the city new energy after it suffered an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).
“We kept thinking, ‘What can the orchestra do to contribute to society and to drum up the spirit of Hong Kong?’,” Chin says, recalling the heavy toll the Sars epidemic took on Hong Kong in 2003. “We decided that the drum was the best Chinese instrument [to do so].”
This July, 20 years on, the popular programme returns for its biggest edition yet.
This year, the orchestra has lined up an all-encompassing programme made up of a series of online and offline events, from drum lessons and live performances to a competition and a carnival at the finale.
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“After the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s time to drum up the spirit of Hong Kong again,” Chin says.
As part of an event series titled “One Beat, One World: Connecting through the Drum”, the HKCO will team up with music tutors to run group drum classes for children, members of ethnic minority groups and communities across all 18 of the city’s districts.
There is also a #DrumChallenge open to music fans worldwide, in which participants can upload to the orchestra’s social media channels a clip of their performance to a rhythm the company has posted online, for a chance to be featured in the film.
Participants are encouraged to get creative – instead of a real drum, they are being asked to use recycled objects or some other makeshift percussion instrument.
On October 7 and 8, the Hong Kong Synergy 24 Drum Competition will be held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza in the city’s Tsim Sha Tsui neighbourhood. The event is open to everyone, including those with special needs.
On October 14, the finale of the Hong Kong Drum Festival will take place at the West Kowloon Art Park, at which the orchestra will present the results of its community engagement efforts.
Performances by traditional drum ensembles will open the event, followed by an expansive drum carnival where the public can try their hand at striking a large drum measuring 2.6 metres (8.5ft) high and 3.46 metres wide.
Visitors can also enjoy drum workshops, game booths and performances. Winners of the Hong Kong Synergy 24 Drum Competition will play live, while videos of drum performances by overseas ensembles will be projected.
“We encourage parents to bring their kids to the Art Park for an enjoyable afternoon,” Chin says.
“I’ve read in studies that the best age to conduct arts education is before the age of 12, which is why the HKCO has put in many efforts in arts education for children.”
The finale will wrap up with a concert featuring leading drum ensembles and virtuosos from around the globe, including renowned Uzbekistan-born doyra drum artist Abbos Kosimov and African music specialist Paschal Yao Younge, the co-founder of multi-ethnic ensemble Azaguno, whose name means “master drummer” in the language of the Ewe people of Ghana, West Africa.
Rattle drums will be distributed to encourage audience participation.
