Jockey Club New Arts Power JOCKEY CLUB New Arts Power, launched in 2017, is an annual Arts Festival presented by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council with the funding support from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The Festival brings together established and emerging local artists to produce creative, approachable and engaging arts experiences for all.
In the past four editions, 43 arts groups have participated in the Festival. Together they produced 90 live performances and a remarkable number of major exhibitions. Uniting art groups and various organisations from the social welfare, academic and commercial sectors, the festival held over 550 community and school events, reaching some 460,000 participants. JOCKEY CLUB New Arts Power 2021 / 2022 has been launched in September 2021, featuring a total of 6 selected programmes that include dance, theatre, music, as well as presenting more than 100 community and school activities.
Table of Content About Fung Lam ................................................................................................................. 2 About anothermountainman ............................................................................................ 4 Yet Another Dream ............................................................................................................ 5 Keywords in Creation ......................................................................................................... 6 Extended Reading: The Dreamy Elements in Music ......................................................... 9 (Note: The English version is translated from the Chinese version. In case of discrepancies between the two versions, the Chinese version shall prevail.)
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About Fung Lam Lam Fung (Composer/ Music Director)
Lam’s music has been performed in some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Konzerthaus Berlin, Sydney Opera House, and Royal Albert Hall in London. He holds the distinction of being the first Hong Kong composer to be commissioned by the BBC. His prolific output includes orchestral work Endless Forms, premiered at BBC Proms in 2012, and Quintessence, written in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Beside concert music, Lam has also composed for dance, theatre, sound installation, multi-media productions. He has served as Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s Composer-in-Residence and Director of Artistic Planning He was awarded the Award for Young Artist (Music) from Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2011. Exploring in Dreams, Experimenting in Life
Lam’s creative journey is imbued with experimentality, which resembles his oeuvres as well as his personality. And this is how he encourages aspiring composers to pursue their dreams – to discover more opportunities from life incidents and realise goals with experiments. The Beginning of Unrestrained Composing Starting his piano lesson at six, Lam was initially exposed to classical music. It was not until his sojourn in the United Kingdom when he began composing. One of his titles, which he submitted to the Asian Composers’ League in 2003, was eventually shortlisted for public concerts during the Asian Music Festival in Tokyo. “It was overwhelming and moving to witness my own work being played by a professional ensemble for the first time. They treated my composition with diligence, which motivated me to sharpen my techniques sedulously,” said Lam. Since then, Lam has been seeking more proactively for platforms for releasing his opuses as well as exploring and conserving. These undertakings include motely kinds of call for scores and workshops within the industry. Appearing on the Stage of Music Participating in a programme co-organised by BBC in 2005, Lam was selected as one of the four young composers. “Illumination was my creative effort during that period.
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Its debut was performed by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, which set off my journey of miscellaneous scales of composing and commission projects,” mentioned Lam. Endless Forms, his fourth collaboration with BBC, has made it to BBC Proms the worldwide annual music event. As it was being resplendently rendered by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Lam’s career reached a moderate peak as well. The occasion also reminded heart-warming moments from Lam’s memory. “The concert was held in Royal Albert Hall, where I moonlighted as an usher years ago. During the premiere I bumped into a number of my ex-colleagues; they all felt delighted for me. It was such an amazing feeling!” Exploring a Corner of the Art World Apart from the ushering job, Lam’s other working experiences also served as experiments that brought unexpected rewards. Volunteering in multiple music festivals offered him the chance to join Boosey & Hawkes, the globally leading classical music publishing company. His 3-year-long employment allowed him to meet top-notch artists on a daily basis. Meanwhile, it seemingly revealed to him, at an early stage, the true side of the art world – there are heaps of art geniuses who lack resources and remain unrecognised for years. “What really matters most is to practise workmanship thoroughly and meticulously. Equip yourself. Be well prepared and raring to go. Bide your time for opportunities.” Manifesting Personal Style While it takes time to accumulate one’s experiences, it also takes time to display one’s style. Lam suggested young artists to broaden their exposure to new sounds and forms as well as to explore their own preferences through repeated creative experiments, during which their styles will naturally emerge. “I would bring in numbers-related games that are compatible with my creative pursuit. The more a certain paradigm becomes familiar, the more likely it imposes limitations on my work. I have to remind myself to break the rules occasionally.” Like any other artist, Lam has come across moments of doubt. “At such instances I choose to trust my own ears. Be honest with myself.” The creative process amounts to the journey of self-understanding. Surviving countless trials and breakthroughs, Lam managed to create his music world that is delicate and profound.
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About anothermountainman anothermountainman (Visual Art/ Director)
anothermountainman (Stanley Wong) graduated from Hong Kong Technical Teachers’ College (Design & Technology) and served as Creative Director for many international advertising agencies. After fifteen years in advertising, with his passion and enthusiasm for creative visuals, Wong became a film director for television commercials and established 84000 Communications in 2007. Wong is also passionate in photography and various creative media with strong focus on social issues. Over the past two decades, Wong gained international awareness with his “red, white and blue” series that promotes the “positive spirit of Hong Kong”, which he presented at the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005 representing Hong Kong. Wong won the Artist of the Year 2011 (Visual Arts) at Hong Kong Arts Development Awards, and received the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Awards 2012 from Hong Kong Museum of Art in 2012. He was also named DFA World’s Outstanding Chinese Designer 2020. Along his career, Wong received over 600 local, Asian, and international awards for his art, design, photography, and advertising works, including 2 One Show gold awards from U.S., D&AD yellow pencil from UK, and Tokyo TDC award. Many of his creations have been exhibited in local and overseas galleries and museums in more than 150 shows. These cover major exhibitions in ggg gallery in Tokyo in 2015 and Hong Kong Heritage Museum in 2019 and 2020. Wong’s outputs are acquired as the permanent collection by a variety of museums, including M+ and Victoria and Albert Museum.
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Yet Another Dream A Journey into the Dream of Music-scape
Yet Another Dream is a journey traversing the ordinary and that beyond, and an earnest exchange between composer Fung Lam and visual communicator anothermountainman. This multimedia concert will see 20 years of Fung Lam’s most evocative, dreamy sound-world condensed, and transfigured with visual and set design from anothermountainman. A select repertoire of solo and ensemble works will be performed by Hong Kong Contemporary Music Group, led by the composer himself on the piano. The Pre-destined Encounter of Lam Fung and anothermountainman
Lam and Wong encountered each other during before a passage, a Jockey Club New Arts Power programme last year. Lam wrote the theme under the same title Before a Passage while Wong was an audience by then. Wong was stunned by the unconventional style of Lam among local music practitioners. When the show was over, the two began to discuss the possibility of collaborating. Eventually, as if opening a door to another experimental dimension, they produced a work that incorporates Wong’s approach of Zen art and the dreamlike quality of Lam’s oeuvres. Together they constructed the music world of Yet Another Dream by re-exploring and rearranging the tunes.
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Keywords in Creation To explore freely one’s style and review one’s own world amidst the torrent, to write down music notes in a space that is beyond time, and to accomplish breakthroughs from existing rules. Lam’s ceaseless experiments of music have nurtured his 20-year-long creative journey. What are the deep-seated elements in his oeuvres? Dream Ordinarily, Lam’s compositions crop up during mid-nights when everything is silent. He describes them as refined, melancholy, and melodic. The endeavour resembles the moment when our mind loses the temporal sense, or rather, the forming of a vague dream and the soft murmuring during sleep.
One of the key words of Lam’s writing is dream, which is naturally adopted as the motif of the current concert. Lam hopes to constitute a hazy world with his dreamy music penned all these years. Under such an unrestricted imaginary space, audience could, according to their instantaneous moods and thoughts, detach themselves from the reality to rest and relax, and eventually immerse themselves into a spiritual journey fabricated with music. Dreamscape, 2014
Dreamscape delivers a sense of eternity and portrays a soft dialogue that transcends time and space. Rendered with sub-octave pipe organ and strings, the completely slow-paced score set up a soundscape that is hushed and packed with nuanced changes. Solo of each of these two instruments appear alternately, contributing to an atmosphere of sensibility.
Dreamscape premiered at St. John's Cathedral in 2014
Slowness
In a city that prioritises speed, “slowness” captures precisely a rebellious spirit. This is the creative space Lam needs most and the “recession” he hopes to manifest through music. anothermountainman deploys his photos for the visualisation of the show. The coherence of stage and visual designs is sustained by the main axis “slowness”. Whether it is the 300 fps slow motion pictures or lighting effect, the setting gives off an air of “slowness” that deserves to be appreciated attentively. All these highlight the distinctiveness of the event.
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Before a Passage, 2021 Characterised by minimalism, this experimental soundscape, conducted with cello, piano, saxophone, and singing bowl, constructs a dreamy world that feels both virtual and real. The chamber music version of Yet Another Dream retains the saxophone solo from Before a Passage.
Before a Passage – a panoramic short film
Dreamy Illusions
Apparently melodic, the performance is devoid of any regular format. Uncertainty permeates through Lam’s music invariably. When the emotion has reached the zenith, as the audience assumes, it escalates again after some rests. When the tune seemingly halts, it lingers on without end. Interpreted by Stanley Wong, such music concept - veering between illusion and actuality - is connected to Zen chanting or hymn singing. The sutra which reads “all things contrived are like dream, illusion, bubble, and shadow” demonstrates the lack of substantiality of dreams. Human life consistently oscillates between vagueness and concreteness as well as reality and illusion. Illumination, 2005 Premiered by BBC philharmonic Orchestra, this is an unprecedented chamber music version of Yet Another Dream. A few dramatic cadences have been added to represent the three stages of realisation in Buddhism retrospection, awakening and realisation.
JOCKEY CLUB New Arts Power
Illumination – symphony version original recording
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Exercise An Interval of Thought A vessel with a pine tree on board is sailing on the sea – this is part of the Heaven on Earth series by anothermountainman and the key visual of Yet Another Dream. What does it mean to you personally? Quiet your mind and observe and perceive thoroughly. Jog down any connotations and thoughts you have about the picture. The same illustration may inspire numerous associations and ideas. The fleeting thought that comes to the mind may reflect your preference, desire, and frustration at the present moment. Through this self-retrospective exercise, try to contemplate on your true self without influences by others. mirage in his eyes oasis from your angle for me… it is heaven on earth
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Extended Reading: The Dreamy Elements in Music Dreamy elements exist in different musical eras, but they find different expressions under different historical and cultural contexts. Music by Debussy
Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918) was the most influential French composer at end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century. His oeuvres vocalise his imagination about the watery form and the changing light and shadow in natural sceneries and phenomena. He invented a quantity of unique styles, for instances, copious use of thoroughbass, unclear tonality, and erratic melody. Debussy cherished the belief that the beauty of creative art resides in its sense of mystery. And among all art forms, music is the most encompassing one.
Clair de lune Performing Unit: Frankfurt Radio Symphony Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun Performing Unit: London Symphony Orchestra
Dream Pop
A genre of pop music, dream pop originated from the United Kingdom and the U.S. in the 60’s and 70’s and rose to prominence during the 80’s and 90’s. Utilising mainly different synthesisers, dream pop music generates a vague and fuzzy sound effect. Like a mirage, it engenders a feeling of weightless void and sweetness.
Know Who You Are at Every Age (Cocteau Twins, 1995)
Space Song (Beach House, 2015)
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Participating Artist: Fung Lam Publisher: Hong Kong Arts Development Council Editor: Cultural Connections Design: PAPAPER Date: November, 2021
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