Choy Lap-tak

Over the past 40 years, Music Office has nurtured generations of musicians and music lovers. To commemorate this moment, Music Office has invited some outstanding alumni and former Music Administrators to share their precious moments at Music Office.

Choy Lap-tak （Former trainee of the Music Office）

“A Music Office Instructors’ Orchestra gave a performance in my school when I was in Primary 4. I took the opportunity to enrol on a course and became a percussion learner in the Music Office since I was in Primary 5.” Like other children, Choy Lap-tak frequently found excuses to skip music classes in his childhood. As a boy playing percussion instruments, he “could never be quiet down and remain attentive”. “I larked around and did not practise and often told my mother that I did not want to attend classes. At the beginning, I did not make much progress in learning.” However, things were quite different a couple of years later when Mr Choy joined the symphonic band. “I still played not very well at first, but the conductor at the time, Mr Pak Wing-heng, taught us patiently. I began to realise that it was great fun to play music with friends. At that time, I came to know that frequent practice and self-discipline were the keys to improvements.” Mr Choy admitted that he made slow progress in learning, but with a passion for percussion, he was willing to pay efforts to practise and overcome the difficulties. “When you practise on your own, you do not know much about your status. Playing music together, however, gives you a new horizon: You come to know that this rhythm goes with trumpets; and the rhythm should be different when being struck with strings. Besides, a successful ensemble performance is like playing games with a lot of people. It is great fun.” To become a professional musician, Mr Choy believes that performance is of utmost importance. “Performing in front of the audience is the only way to learn how to stage performances. The instant response required in performances can only be obtained through repeated performances. The Music Office provides a lot of performance opportunities for trainees at vastly different venues. Each venue has its own acoustics that require adjustments according to circumstances.” Every performance gives Mr Choy a new stimulus, and enables him to make continuous improvements in performance skills. “While I observe students’ problems during the lessons, I also ponder how I can do better in my next performance.” Regarding his current achievements, Mr Choy is grateful to the Music Office for leading him to the music profession. He has worked with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Macao Orchestra and other bands as a percussionist. He is active in percussion performances and teaching. However, Mr Choy still thinks that once a person has chosen the musical path, he has to keep improving. “Percussion is a wide world with evolving techniques. There are so many types of music, and knowledge is boundless. As such, I can only keep learning.” Despite that, he still enjoys playing music. He concluded, “Playing music is fun!”

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