Kenny Koo

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.

Kenny Koo (Former Concertmaster of the Hong Kong Youth Chinese Orchestra)

Kenny Koo excels in various types of huqins (Chinese bowed-string instruments, mainly of two strings). He came to know the Chinese bowed-string instruments in the Music Office. “I checked my assessment results in the Music Office, and then I realised that the first type of huqins that I learnt was gaohu. That was probably when I was in junior secondary school. I later learnt erhu and banhu as well. After joining the orchestra, I had access to different types of huqins.” Mr Koo is affectionate with huqins because of their closeness to human voice, like singing. “They are simply songs without lyrics, but are capable of expressing delicate emotions. Different types of huqins represent different cultural styles, and that is very interesting.” Mr Koo modestly said that his achievements in music can hardly be described as outstanding at all. “To date, I am still in the ‘music playing’ state of mind.” Recalling his days in the Music Office, he pointed out that there were many fringe activities apart from learning musical instruments. “Theory classes, aural classes, grade examinations, music camps, Chinese Music Days, music festivals and so on are some examples. As I became more affectionate with music, I tended to be more proactive. I studied other materials which were out of syllabus in secret. If I was only to meet the requirements of the classes and examinations, it would suffice to confine to the assigned pieces contained in the syllabus. But as we were so eager for further improvements, we spent extra time on practice and explore extra learning materials as well.” Competitions among orchestras were another challenge to Mr Koo. “The Chinese Music Day was an annual event for Chinese orchestras from different districts to come together. There were games, snacks as well as performances. We could also observe how other students perform in the Music Day.” Mr Koo admitted that watching others perform involve healthy competitions. “The performances were so exciting and competitive. Participants might learn from one another through observation while immersing themselves in the performances.” Mr Koo said that during his days in the Music Office, he came to know many maestros, who broadened his horizons. “Once I saw a musical instrument called zhuihu, with its neck like sanxian, but its body and sound like erhu. It was actually a hybrid of the two. I eventually asked a sanxian instructor to teach me how to press the strings with my left hand and requested my instructor to get me the particular strings. I also learnt how to play the scales at the same time.” Although it was merely a small episode of the music camp, it had a significant bearing on Mr Koo. “Though young at that time, I was able to acquire new knowledge on my own, which was some kind of self-learning.” Mr Koo not only grasped the techniques of music learning, but also found the way to acquire knowledge. “Music is not merely an interest, but a lifelong belief. It is your life companion and the source of happiness.” Currently, Mr Koo is a huqin player, as well as the Treasurer of the Windpipe Chinese Ensemble and a director of a telecommunication corporation. Music guides him to explore new knowledge and motivates him to acquire knowledge. He said, “The Music Office has laid the foundation for my knowledge acquisition. It is beneficial to my understanding of music and acquisition of new knowledge in future.”

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