Dr Lung Heung-wing

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.

Dr Lung Heung-wing (Former Principal Percussionist of the Hong Kong Youth Symphony Orchestra)

Dr Lung Heung-wing started his musical journey at the age of six. He began to receive his piano lessons from his aunt, while his uncle, renowned music educator cum conductor Dr Yip Wai-hong, invited him to join the then newly formed Hong Kong Children’s Choir. “My voice was just so hoarse! Dr Yip then asked me to try the xylophone. There was no percussion teacher at that time, and playing xylophone was just my hobby. I still focused on the piano.” In 1977, Dr Lung was admitted to the Hong Kong Baptist College, which is now a university, to pursue music study. It so happened that the Music Office was set up in the same year. “After the establishment of the Music Office, six Hong Kong young musicians were awarded scholarship to pursue further studies in a music conservatory in the United Kingdom. I was so lucky to be one of them, and I was the only percussionist among them.” When the Hong Kong Youth Symphony Orchestra was to go on overseas concert tour in 1979, Dr Lung flew back to Hong Kong to join the Orchestra for performances. “I was so honoured to be the Principal Percussionist, playing Darius Milhaud’s Concerto for Percussion & Small Orchestra, and to go on concert tour to the United Kingdom and France with the Orchestra.” He later completed his studies in the United Kingdom and the United States, and obtained the postgraduate and doctoral degrees before returning to Hong Kong. He had been the Principal Percussionist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra until 2003, when he founded the Hong Kong Percussion Centre. He established the centre because he saw the big world for percussion. “The world of music is vast; it is particularly true for the world of percussion. The more you learn, the more you realise how deficient you are. Therefore, we have to stay humble and keep learning.” Dr Lung is a soloist, an educator, and recently a musical instrument maker, who has been invited by the renowned Taiwanese artist Ju Ming to participate in a plastic installation exhibition. Dr Lung’s works were put on exhibition for six months between 2013 and 2014. “Suddenly I became a visual artist,” exclaimed Dr Lung. What music brings him is a journey of life-long learning. In Dr Lung’s view, learning music does not necessarily mean that one has to be a musician. Music gives people pleasure. Everyone can find the music they enjoy in everyday life. “You have to learn to read the scores if you learn to play the piano, and go through certain procedures. For percussion, students can enjoy the striking and hitting of the musical instruments at the start without reading the scores. We do have some mnemonics to help the children in memorising the music and let them enjoy the fun of percussion before moving on to complex rhythms that need memorisation of the scores.” Dr Lung thinks that theory is not necessarily a starting point for learning music; rather, we should, first of all, enjoy music with our body and ears. “This method is applicable to foundation classes for both children and adults.” Another attraction of music is that you can share the joy with others. “Music career is the most rewarding job in the world. The pleasure of sharing music with student audience is tremendous. What music brings has nothing to do with money but spiritual satisfaction. Happiness is not something for his own self; it is the fun of sharing with others. The happiness of enjoying music with others is simply irreplaceable.”

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