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entry to the posts is of degree level, the starting point of the professional posts concerned is wrongly set at non-degree level by the Music Office. This has discouraged those who wish to pursue a career in music education popularization and music promotion from joining the Music Office. I earnestly hope the problem can also be readily resolved.
In addition, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the tour to Southern China made by the Hong Kong Youth Symphonic Band of the Music Office. The Southern China Symphonic Music Exchange Delegation, formed by members of the Band, set out on 23 December 1996 and returned to Hong Kong on 1 January 1997. The cross-border music interflow between young musicians of Guangzhou and Hong Kong has a distinctive significance. During its tour, the delegation staged a total of 10 concerts in 4 cities, namely Zhongshan, Guangzhou, Foshan and Shenzhen. Band members also had exchange sessions with young musicians and bands of the 4 cities, including students from Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou. The 10 concerts were very well received by the audience in China and attracted extensive media attention. Apart from being covered by the TV news broadcasts of the 4 host cities, the concerts were highlighted in special programmes produced after the tour by the TV stations of Zhongshan, Guangzhou and Foshan, and a detailed report was made in the news network time of the China Central Television.
In comparison, the level of support given to symphonic bands by the Urban Council of Hong Kong is disappointing. Maybe the Council has a misconception that amateur symphonic bands in Hong Kong are still at the stage of marching bands or brass bands. That is why even though many high standard symphonic bands have been set up by young symphonic musicians trained by the Music Office and people in the local symphonic field over the last 20 years, the Council has never organized any concerts for these bands.
Mr. Chairman, we have been able to make achievements in popularizing music education in Hong Kong because there was support from the Government, which planned and set up music centres in various districts progressively in those years. However, the pace of making education in other arts forms widely available is much slower in comparison. As a matter of fact, the Government did strive to promote arts education through other means years ago. Eastern dance (including Chinese dance) was one of the subjects being promoted. At the Adult Education and Recreation Centres run by the Education Department in various districts, quite a number of Eastern dance courses were offered, creating a lot of dance lovers in those days. Some of them even joined amateur dance companies to continue acquiring and developing dancing skills. The Eastern dance courses given by the former Music Office and the Adult Education and Recreation Centres of the Education Department all inspired people with a love for dance. In fact, popularization of arts education, besides being school-oriented, should more importantly be community-oriented so that it will be easier for the general public to come into contact with main-stream arts and culture. In so doing, we can really
Page 380 of 498
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Page 380 of 498
424
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
entry to the posts is of degree level, the starting point of the professional posts concerned is wrongly set at non-degree level by the Music Office. This has discouraged those who wish to pursue a career in music education popularization and music promotion from joining the Music Office. I earnestly hope the problem can also be readily resolved.
In addition, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the tour to Southern China made by the Hong Kong Youth Symphonic Band of the Music Office. The Southern China Symphonic Music Exchange Delegation. formed by members of the Band, set out on 23 December 1996 and returned to Hong Kong on 1 January 1997. The cross-border music interflow between young musicians of Guangzhou and Hong Kong has a distinctive significance. During its tour, the delegation staged a total of 10 concerts in 4 cities, namely Zhongshan, Guangzhou, Foshan and Shenzhen. Band members also had exchange sessions with young musicians and bands of the 4 cities, including students from Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou. The 10 concerts were very well received by the audience in China and attracted extensive media attention. Apart from being covered by the TV news broadcasts of the 4 host cities, the concerts were highlighted in special programmes produced after the tour by the TV stations of Zhongshan, Guangzhou and Foshan, and a detailed report was made in the news network time of the China Central Television.
In comparison, the level of support given to symphonic bands by the Urban Council of Hong Kong is disappointing. Maybe the Council has a misconception that amateur symphonic bands in Hong Kong are still at the stage of marching bands or brass bands. That is why even though many high standard symphonic bands have been set up by young symphonic musicians trained by the Music Office and people in the local symphonic field over the last 20 years, the Council has never organized any concerts for these bands.
Mr. Chairman, we have been able to make achievements in popularizing music education in Hong Kong because there was support from the Government. which planned and set up music centres in various districts progressively in those years. However, the pace of making education in other arts forms widely available is much slower in comparison. As a matter of fact. the Government did strive to promote arts education through other means years ago. Eastern dance (including Chinese dance) was one of the subjects being promoted. At the Adult Education and Recreation Centres run by the Education Department in various districts, quite a number of Eastern dance courses were offered, creating a lot of dance lovers in those days. Some of them even joined amateur dance companies to continue acquiring and developing dancing skills. The Eastern dance courses given by the former Music Office and the Adult Education and Recreation Centres of the Education Department all inspired people with a love for dance. In fact, popularization of arts education, besides being school-oriented, should more importantly be community-oriented so that it will be easier for the general public to come into contact with main-stream arts and culture. In so doing, we can really
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