After so many years of playing on the violin and 2 years of music life in the

Chinese University of Hong Kong, I have finally discovered what I wanted to do

the most in the future. I wish the ultimate goal of my study could be a
combination of two professionals: a violinist and a theorist, and what I want to
do is to develop a better sense of the importance of "music analysis" and "music
performing" in Hong Kong. To achieve this goal, first I have to be a mature
violinist in order to be convincing. Therefore "Master of Music in Violin
Performing" would be my best choice of postgraduate study in the coming year.
Music performing is very popular in Hong Kong. I have played in many
different kinds of music groups in the past years, such as piano trios, string
quartets and orchestras etc. I have also been a violin tutor in different music
centres, including voluntary works. I have discovered that many people who
play music in Hong Kong do not know clearly about what they are actually
playing. Society has a saying recently: people in Hong Kong only care about
music exams, and they only know how to play pieces that they play in exams.
These are all very unhealthy phenomenons and lead to a poor way of music
developing in Hong Kong. Therefore, I think music analysis should be introduced
to all music makers including amateur players. Pure theories are usually too
difficult and boring for amateur, therefore I think "analysis and performance"
would consist of different levels of difficulties, where amateur and professional
players can get help from it.
Analysis and performance are equally important and they have to work
together with each other: Without music performing, why do we have to analyze
it? Without appropriate analysis, playing music would not be fun, and the music
would not sound good either. The depth of analysis can easily be adjusted, from
easy as musical phrasing to deeper issues like chord progressions and musical
form etc. From different levels of analysis, different performance directions can
be proposed and they can be grouped into books. These suggestions would be
helpful to music teachers as well as students, and they can stimulate more
analyses from teachers and hence a healthier development of music making in
Hong Kong. These analyses can cover different classical music types, from solo
pieces to orchestral pieces.
I always enjoy performing in different groups, such as a small ensemble or
as an orchestral player. Analysis and performance can be best promoted by
public performances. Similar work has been done many years ago in the USA by
the New York Philharmonic Orchestra - the Young People's Concerts, but it is still
not very popular in Hong Kong. In recent years, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta are
doing concerts for music amateurs, I believe, with good cooperation, the
orchestra can also be one of the pioneers of the promotion of "analysis and
performance" in Hong Kong. But these cannot be done unless before "analysis
and performance" become mature enough in Hong Kong.
All in all, I believe "analysis and performance" is essential to a healthy
development of classical music playing in Hong Kong. This is not an easy path to
work on but I am sure that I will put more than a hundred percent of effort on it,
and help Hong Kong becoming a more and more cultural society.