Why Composer Charles Kwong Just Wrote a Sheng Concerto

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Charles Kwong’s reputation as one of Hong Kong’s leading contemporary composers was highlighted and underlined in bold by the world premiere of his first piano concerto, Hereafters, last year. Just a season later and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta (HKS) have commissioned another concerto — this time showcasing the Sheng, performed by virtuoso Loo Sze-wang (pictured).

The genesis of Kwong’s new concerto lies in an image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope, that he discovered in 2019. Despite detailing nothing more than an “underwhelming, blurry reddish halo,” the experience moved him profoundly. “Somehow, it felt like seeing an end of the world that we ourselves could never reach,” writes the composer. Horizons was also inspired by the contrasting perspectives of cultural horizons: the orchestra, concerto form and Kwong’s music-making to date all follow the Western classical idiom; as a Chinese reed instrument, the sheng comes from another horizon altogether. Writing the concerto forced Kwong to reconsider his own vantages and inclinations. “Bringing them together is not simply a matter of juxtaposing the sheng with the orchestra and fitting it into a Western concerto form,” adds Kwong. “The encounter also makes me question the concerto and the orchestra themselves, and the assumptions I bring to them.”

The evening’s programme also features Hong Kong’s leading string ensemble, Cong Quartet, performing a rare concerto for string quartet, written by Benjamin Lees but apparently never before performed locally. Under the baton of music director emeritus Yip Wing-sie, the orchestra also renders Dvorak’s eighth symphony.