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Hong Kong's music scene

Freespace Jazz Fest 2024

Review | Herbie Hancock as incredible as ever at Hong Kong jazz festival

Jazz legend Herbie Hancock showed he’s still got it at the Freespace Jazz Fest 2024, with other stand-out acts including Ted Lo and Heidi Li.

What is HKT x WestK Popfest – and who’s performing?

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend, October 25-27

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Letters | Coldplay ticket woes suggest Hongkongers don’t matter in event plans

Readers discuss the frustration of missing out on a coming mega event, how the US domestic economic agenda could ease US-China tensions and growing demand for bilingual skills.

A poster advertising Coldplay’s concert dates in Hong Kong are seen at a bus stop in Admiralty district on October 7. Photo: Elson Li

Hong Kong Clockenflap festival full line-up includes Central Cee headlining

The full line-up for November 29-December 1 music festival is announced, with ‘Doja’ rapper Central Cee to headline Saturday night.

She swapped law books for a DJ’s decks. Catch Awen at Hong Kong festival

Lucille Kante found her voice and vocation while a lawyer in Hong Kong, since when she’s DJed everywhere including Coachella. Now she’s back.

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Profile | Hong Kong singer and actor Jacky Cheung’s rise to God of Songs

Known as one of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ of Cantopop, Jacky Cheung has enjoyed a stellar career as an actor and singer since 1984.

Jacky Cheung performs on stage in Hong Kong in January 2024 during his Jacky Cheung 60+ Concert Tour. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

Hong Kong electronic music festival Midori returns in secret location

The three-day Midori festival focuses on underground electronic music and culture while highlighting Hong Kong’s beautiful natural landscape.

Sheng vs didgeridoo? When 2 of the world’s oldest wind instruments went head to head

What happens when you put 2 traditional wind instruments from different corners of the globe next to a Western classical orchestra? Dylan Crismani’s concerto for Sheng and Didgeridoo, Coming Together, attempts to answer that sonic conundrum.

Profile | Why Cantopop stars from Faye Wong to Eason Chan love lyricist Albert Leung

Having created lyrics for stars from Anita Mui to Leslie Cheung and Jacky Cheung, Leung is one of Cantopop’s most loved and prolific writers.

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Albert Leung thanks the crowd for their support during the annual Ultimate Song Chart awards organised by Commercial Radio, in January 1999. Photo: SCMP

Hypefest to debut in Hong Kong in November, with electronic band Justice to headline

Organisers say festival will take place along Central harbourfront from November 9 to 10 and is expected to attract 30,000 guests.

Hypefest has been held in mainland China for the past two iterations. Photo: Handout

HK Phil’s new season kicks off with 24-year-old Tarmo Peltokoski

Named the orchestra’s music director from 2026-27, the young Finnish conductor begins a new season with a programme of Sibelius and Bruckner

Crash Adams to play their healing pop at YouTube Music Night in Hong Kong

Pop duo Crash Adams, who found fame on YouTube and TikTok, are returning to Hong Kong to play a selection of their hit songs at the YouTube Music Night at Harbour City on August 25.

Musician Olivier Cong’s latest album, Tropical Church, is an ode to Hong Kong

Oliver Cong went from a brooding songwriter to an acolyte of the late Ryuichi Sakamoto; his new album pays tribute to Hong Kong via experimental sounds

Olivier Cong in his studio in Ngau Tau Kok. Photo: Eugene Chan

Then & Now | How Hong Kong’s Diamond Records gave birth to Cantopop

Cantopop didn’t begin with Anita Mui or Jacky Cheung, but with the humble studios of post-war Hong Kong

Popular 60s soul band The Mystics are among the formatitive Hong Kong artists that cut their demo discs with Diamond Records, an incubator for what would become Cantopop. Photos: SCMP Archive

Can this new Hong Kong music venue fill a hole left by Kitec?

The 1,500-person-capacity AXA Dreamland at Go Park Sai Sha in Ma On Shan could soften the blow of the loss of Kitec’s 600-seat Music Zone, where bands including Mirror launched their careers.

Jazz star Ambrose Akinmusire is finding beauty in troubled times

Following his recent Hong Kong debut, the acclaimed trumpeter talks about influential mentors Wayne Shorter and Roy Hargrove, quitting the world’s biggest jazz label, and his fears for the coming US election

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How Frances Yip helped put Cantopop on the map, seen in a new exhibition

Yip is in Hong Kong to give 2 concerts and to attend the exhibition ‘Soundtrack of Our Lives: Joseph Koo x James Wong x the Rise of Cantopop’ held at Tai Kwun, where she was once an auxiliary policewoman

Singer Frances Yip today, at the “Soundtrack of Our Lives” exhibition that traces the importance of her collaboration with songwriters James Wong and Joseph Woo in the rise of Cantopop. Photo: Abdela Igmirien

Music festival to photo exhibition, 5 weekend arts events in Hong Kong

View images of Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui and Maggie Cheung among other works at Sam Wong’s photo exhibition, or take your kids to Sho-Chan Playful Studio featuring the Japanese cartoon character.

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‘Cantopop is so unhealthy!’: the story of Hong Kong’s new Freespace Noise Fest

The inaugural Freespace Noise Fest is Hong Kong’s largest experimental music event to date, offering a loud rebuttal to the city’s syruppy pop sounds, says curator Kung Chi-shing

Summer 2024 fun in Hong Kong – 6 events from Mamma Mia! to anime convention

Want to turn up the fun in Hong Kong this summer? We have you covered, including a book fair, Doraemon exhibitions, a pop-up water park and the Unheard Sound and Music Festival.

Want to turn up the fun in Hong Kong this summer? We have you covered, including an anime convention and the Abba musical Mamma Mia! Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Ambrose Akinmusire: Hong Kong’s most unmissable jazz gig of the year

From free-jazz freak-outs to working with rappers Kendrick Lamar and Kool A.D., the American trumpeter’s career has been one of 21st century music’s greatest surprises

American jazz musician and composer Ambrose Akinmusire, who performs at Hong Kong’s Xiqu Centre in July 2024, has been celebrated as one of the most influential jazz musicians of recent decades thanks to acclaimed albums including When the Heart Emerges Glistening (2011), Origami Harvest (2018) and Beauty is Enough (2023). Photo: Michael Wilson

‘Black people know the feeling’: R&B singer in Hong Kong on being fetishised

Singer Wesley Jamison grew up an introvert but came out of his shell in Hong Kong, tackling a lack of black representation along the way.

Hong Kong jazz club owner on ‘connecting people’, upcoming music festival

Joe Lung talks of his pride in forging a musical and artistic community centred on his jazz club Chez Trente in Hong Kong’s Central district, and the upcoming Chez Trente Music Fest.

Hong Kong weatherman, 74, turns to rap music to warn about wasteful fast fashion

Former Observatory director Lam Chiu-ying teams up with singer-songwriter Luna Lee for rap song with environmental message.

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Ex-Observatory chief Lam Chiu-ying is an advocate for environmental protection. Photo: Jonathan Wong

‘No air con’: Hong Kong weatherman’s hip hop

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Hong Kong’s H2 Festival returns packed with local musicians – and it’s free

Hong Kong’s H2 Festival returns to The Wanch this summer with a huge line-up of local bands and artists. Organiser Keith Goodman wants you to see as many as possible. Why not? It’s free.

Hongkongers 8km from festival complain about noise although levels within limits

S2O Hong Kong Songkran Music Festival was held at the weekend at the Central harbourfront.

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Hong Kong's music scene
From boy band Mirror to the city's indie scene, get the latest musical updates from Hong Kong right here.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
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