Lui Pui-yuen, master of Chinese music, returns to perform once again
Lui Pui-yuen helped traditional Chinese music gain status in colonial city
A grandmaster of traditional Chinese music has returned to Hong Kong with 60 years of musical legacy and fond memories of the city, which he called home until the early 1970s.
For more than 20 years prior to his departure, the Suzhou -born Lui Pui-yuen, a pipa master of the first order, was a key pioneer in raising traditional Chinese music to an equal status with Western music in colonial Hong Kong. The impact of his work can still be felt four decades after he emigrated to America.
"There was only Western music at school music festivals in the early 1960s," Lui, 82, recalled. "The colonial administration looked down on Chinese traditional music because, they charged, the instruments' intonation was poor.
"I founded the first Chinese ensemble at Diocesan Boys' School, took it to the school festival and, as the sole participant, won all the prizes," he laughed.
Tomorrow, Lui will perform a pipa trio with his former students Doris Wong, now a secondary teacher, and Fung Tung, a DBS alumni and associate vice-president of Chinese University.
The concert, In Praise of Elegance, at the Grand Hall of the University of Hong Kong, will showcase the octogenarian's distinctive style on the pipa, a pear-shaped string instrument played upright, as well as mastery on the guqin, a zither that is one of the oldest Chinese instruments.
"Lui's style is definitely in a class of his own, having the elegant classic quality from Jiangnan [in eastern China] where he came from," said Chan Hing-yan, head of HKU's music department and another DBS alumni. "Why he stands out among other masters is his ability to adapt to different styles and forms. From Shaw Brothers movies to Cantonese operas, he is superb and has recordings to prove it."