The Artist-in-Residence Programme, first held last year, successfully promoted international exchange opportunities for Hong Kong students. We are pleased to announce that this year, a total of 5 primary and secondary schools are participating in the program, each paired with an overseas expert. In the following period, the choir conductors will maintain close communication with the overseas experts to set appropriate program and rehearsal strategies for the choirs.
During the Choral Festival, the overseas experts will serve as resident conductors for the matched school choirs, providing multiple coaching sessions to the same choir. Ultimately, the experts will lead the coached choirs in the Artist-in-Residence Programme Finale Concert at a large performance venue, showcasing the highest level of choral music in the choral festival.
The programme also aims to foster a spirit of cooperation and friendship among the top school choirs in Hong Kong, who are often rivals in traditional competitions. HKICF hopes that through this programme, the students will realise that there is much to gain from working together and sharing their experiences with each other.
COMPONENTS
A commencement workshop will be held on 16 February 2025, bringing 5 participating school choirs together to meet, collaborate, and learn collectively under the guidance of overseas experts.
After the commencement workshop, overseas experts will serve as resident conductors for the matched school choirs, providing multiple coaching sessions to the same choir, bringing their professional insights to the choirs to elevate the choirs’ performances even more.
After intensive training sessions by world-class choral experts, five award-winning Hong Kong school choirs will present a choral music extravaganza of the highest calibre for the audience.
Resident Conductors & Participating schools
Resident Conductor
Carmel Pak U Secondary School
Established in 1979, the Carmel Pak U Secondary School Choir has actively participated in local, national, and international choral competitions and received numerous awards and honours. Over the past fifteen years, the Choir has been selected multiple times as “The Most Outstanding Secondary School Choir of the Year” and “The Best Secondary School Junior Choir” in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. The choir has proudly represented Hong Kong on numerous occasions, travelling overseas for competitions and performances, and consistently achieving outstanding results.
In recent years, the Choir has garnered multiple gold awards and achieved top three rankings in various competitions, such as the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, Hong Kong Inter-School Choral Festival and Joint School Music Competition. In July 2024, the Choir participated in the 13th World Choir Games and won two gold medals in the categories of “Children’s Choirs” and “Music of Spirit and Faith”, thereby making their debut in the INTERKULTUR World Rankings.
Resident Conductor
CCC Kei Wan Primary School (Aldrich Bay)
The CCC Kei Wan Primary School (Aldrich Bay) Choir of Hong Kong was established in 1991 and is now active in various local and overseas music performances and competitions. The Choir has travelled to Beijing, Sweden, Germany, England, Poland, Canada, achieving outstanding results.
In 2014, the Choir was awarded the Grand Prix Champion title over 47 choirs from different nations at the 1st Singapore International Choir Festival. They also received the Gold Medal at the Grand Prix of Nations Gothenburg 2019, the 4th European Choir Games, the Taipei International Choral Competition 2022, and the Hong Kong Inter-School Choral Festival. Additionally, they were the winner of the Children’s Choir category (13 years old or younger) at the 5th Tokyo International Choir Competition 2023.
In the summer of 2024, the choir competed in the International Youth Music Festival in Slovakia, where they won the Grand Prix among all music groups participating from around the globe.
Resident Conductor
Diocesan Boys’ School
The Diocesan Boys’ School (DBS) Choir consists of the school’s most outstanding choristers in the senior forms. It is a group that performs and competes frequently in Hong Kong and overseas.
In recent years, the DBS Choir has won accolades such as the “Best Boys Choir of the Year” and the “Most Outstanding Choir of the Year” at the annual Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. The Choir has also travelled overseas to various countries to compete in the international choral festivals including the World Choir Games, the International Johannes Brahms Choir Competition (Germany) etc, receiving various awards and critical acclaim.
In the latest world rankings of choral groups published by INTERKULTUR, the choir is ranked top 10 among the top 1000 choirs and ranked 1st in the Male Choirs class.
Resident Conductor
Heep Yunn School
Heep Yunn School is a Christian Girls’ High School and has a long tradition in choral singing since the 1950s. The choristers have great passion for choral singing and the repertoire covers a wide range of genres, from Chinese to western, local to international, classical to popular, folk to contemporary.
The choir actively participates in local and international music festivals. It was chosen as the Best Girls’ Choir and the Most Outstanding Choir of the year 2018 and 2019 in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. In July 2023, the Choir competed in the 12th World Choir Games, Gangneung 2023 and came back with two gold medals in the championship competitions.
Resident Conductor
St. Joseph’s College
St. Joseph’s College Chamber Boys’ Choir was formed in 2017, engaging actively in collaborating with other schools, and participating in local and international choral programmes.
The Choir won two Gold Awards in Hong Kong Inter-School Choral Competition 2024. In Hong Kong Schools Music Festival 2024, the Choir captured the ”Best Boys’ Choir“. In Joint School Music Competition 2024, the Choir attained two Gold Awards.
The Choir achieved outstanding results in international competitions as well, including Category Champion, Gold Prize, and “Creative Choreography Award” in the 2021 Taipei International Choral Competition (Children Choir Class), a Gold Award in the Penabur International Choir Festival 2022, and the “Outstanding Performance Award” in the 37th Takarazuka International Chamber Chorus Contest.
Past Event highlights
Other programmes
