HONG KONG — Chamber music is alive and well in Hong Kong, where a constant stream of people from all corners of the world fill the streets beneath canyons of skyscrapers. That’s the daily scene in one of the great business hubs where East meets West. Yet amid the hustle and bustle of cars, trucks, and jackhammers, a concert of works by Locatelli, Tartini, Vivaldi, and Beethoven felt like a breath of fresh air. Added to the mix was soothing Satie and the calm gestures of “flow artist” Chris Lam, creating a unique concert by members of Musicus Society at Hong Kong City Hall’s Concert Hall on Dec. 7.
Founded in 2010 by cellist Trey Lee and his sister, Chui-Inn Lee, Musicus Society seeks to promote cross-cultural classical-music collaborations on an international level. To that end, the organization, with Trey Lee as artistic adviser, has established a series of concerts that take place in historically significant locations in the metropolitan area. The Society also provides educational opportunities for local music students and presents festival concerts that include top-tier young professionals from Hong Kong blended with veteran musicians from around the world.
The 2025 edition of Musicus Fest opened with a concert that featured Trey Lee and the English Chamber Orchestra. Although I missed that performance, I was able to attend a one-hour family show (Dec. 6) and the festival finale (Dec. 7) in which Lee and Musicus Soloists Hong Kong collaborated with Angela Chan and Jacques Forestier, co-winners of the 2024 Joseph Joachim Violin Competition at the Concert Hall.
To make things perfectly clear, the Hong Kong City Hall is not the headquarters of the city’s government. Instead, it is a complex of buildings that provides some municipal services, a parking garage, a library, and performing arts venues, including the Concert Hall. Built in the 1960s, the hall has seating for 1,430 and excellent acoustics.
In the family show, Marco Polo’s Musical Encounter of East and West, the Venetian trader brings Chinese musical instruments back to his hometown. Several performers gave examples of music that allowed listeners to compare sounds from Eastern and Western instruments, and the final scene wrapped it up with a festive “Carnival of Venice.”
A nearly full house greeted the Musicus Fest finale, which began with Lee and Finnish violinist Minna Pensola teaming up with the Musicus Soloists Hong Kong to deliver a stellar rendition of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Violin and Cello in F major. Pensola’s cat-like movements — often crouching and stepping forward — were imbued with an intensity that was mirrored by Lee with equal panache. Lee’s lithe phrasing in the second movement (Largo) was sometimes overshadowed by Australian cellist Martin Smith but still effectively calmed the mood before the scintillating Allegro, in which Pensola and Lee echoed each other with wild runs.
Canadian violinist Jacques Forestier followed with an invigorating account of Tartini’s Violin Sonata in G minor (Devil’s Trill) in an arrangement by Fritz Kreisler that incorporates string orchestra. Forestier established a poetic atmosphere prior to his eloquent duet with harpsichordist Shane Levesque. Then came a dramatic transition to continuous trilling passages that were diabolically interspersed with notes that seemed to leap out of nowhere — all of which were executed impeccably by Forestier.
Equally impressive was Angela Chan’s performance of Locatelli’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 3, No. 12 (Harmonic Labyrinth). Chan, a native of Hong Kong, negotiated the minefield of challenging passages with elan. The bird-like sounds she elicited in the first movement were just a tantalizing prelude to the treacherous journey of the final movement, in which she shredded bow hair. She conquered every mountain with immaculate finger work and a riveting fierceness that brought down the house.
Interspersed between the Tartini and Locatelli pieces were Satie’s Gymnopédies Nos. 1 and 3 in an arrangement for string orchestra by Wolfgang Birtel. They were accompanied by flow artist Chris Lam, who balanced objects in a hypnotic way that perfectly meshed with Satie’s music. With his long arms, Lam used sets of rings to create all sorts of intriguing visual constructs, and the music almost disappeared into the background.
After intermission, Pensola and the Musicus Soloists gave a passionate performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in an arrangement for string orchestra by Carl Friedrich Ebers. The violas ably took over the French horn parts with gusto, but I missed the horns all the same. Overall, the ensemble playing was tight and precise and made the quicksilver runs sparkle. Superbly crafted dynamics enhanced the music-making, and the performance generated sustained acclamation from concertgoers.
It’s been a trying time in Hong Kong because of the recent tragedy in which several high-rise apartment towers that primarily housed seniors were consumed by fire. As a gesture of comfort, the festival artists, including Chan and Forestier, played Piazzola’s Ave Maria with great sensitivity, allowing the music to breathe and acquire depth. The audience waited almost a full minute before responding with subdued yet heartfelt applause.
