Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra

This section is dedicated to those music artist whom I love very dearly. Every week I will highlight some artist from the Music Industry and will also get their song for download. Please understand that the music download link is given for reference purpose and it should not be passed elsewhere, this tends to piracy and I am personally against it. Thank you.

This week's Music Artist is: Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra

The Orchestra was founded in 1977 and is the only professional, full-sized Chinese orchestra with 85 musicians in Hong Kong. It came under the management of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Limited on April 1, 2001 when the latter took over from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong.

The Orchestra is deeply rooted in the Chinese cultural heritage. Its performance format and repertoire include both traditional Chinese music and contemporary full-scale works. It also explores new frontiers in music through commissioning new works of various types and styles, and over the years, has commissioned more than 1,700 original compositions and arrangements. The Orchestra currently has an establishment of 85 musicians who perform in the four sections comprising bowed-strings, plucked-strings, wind and percussion instruments. Traditional as well as improved Chinese instruments are incorporated.

Their Achievements:
* A new Guinness Record was set by the Orchestra when some one thousand erhu players played at a mass performance entitled Music from a Thousand Strings. The official entry was made as the largest number of people performing the erhu at the same time. (2001)
* The Orchestra held the Opening Rally of the Hong Kong Drum Festival at an unprecedented mass performance witnessed by all Hong Kong, when three thousand Hong Kong citizens played a drum piece, The Earth Shall Move. The event marks another Guinness World of Records entry for the Orchestra and served to boost the morale of the people of Hong Kong after the ravages of SARS. (2003)
* More than 500 dizi players joined the HKCO in a mass performance at the Opening Ceremony of the Hong Kong Dizi and Xiao Festival 2005 - another world record for having the largest number of people playing the dizi together. (2005)
* The Orchestra was awarded for 'The Most Outstanding Achievement in Advancing Contemporary Chinese Music' by the ISCM World Music Days 2002 Hong Kong. (2002)
* The Council of the Orchestra was awarded 'Directors of the Year - Statutory/ Non-profit-distributing Organization Board' by The Hong Kong Institute of Directors for achievement in corporate governance. (2004).
* The 2003-2004 Annual Report of the Orchestra was awarded '2004 Best Corporate Governance Disclosure Awards - Gold Award of Public Sector/ Not-for-profit Category' by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. (2004)
* The Orchestra was awarded for 'The 28th Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award - The Golden Needle Award' by Radio Television Hong Kong. (2005)
* Awarded the 'Caring Organization' logo by The Hong Kong Council of Social Services. (2005-2007)
* The Orchestra was awarded the 'Most Outstanding Achievement in Advancing Asian Contemporary Music' by the Asian Composers League. (2007)
* Roots of the Chinese, a recording that featured the Orchestra, won two awards in the 'Instrumental Music - Album' category and the 'Instrumental Music - Performance' category at the 6th China Gold Record Awards. (2008)

Music Download Link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/129668657/12_Daring_General_-_The_Hong_Kong_Chinese_Orchestra.mp3
http://rapidshare.com/files/129669783/17_Fisherman_s_Song_Of_The_East_China_Sea_-_The_Hong_Kong_Chinese_Orchestra.mp3