Study Buddy (Challenger): Hong Kong conductor leads young musicians while working in the family garment business

[2] For that “little weekend getaway”, as he calls it, the 43-year-old took an overnight flight from Hong Kong to Australia on a Friday, stayed in the recording studio the whole weekend, arrived back in Hong Kong at 6am on Monday, and went directly to work – and he would do it all over again. “I’d just be doing something I enjoy doing. There’d be no stress at all,” he said. He is tight-lipped about the film as it has not been released yet.

[3] Chu, who was born and raised in Hong Kong, went to Australia in 1996 to study. The plan was for him to stay there for two years before returning to pursue a business degree in Hong Kong. But that was not what he wanted to do. Despite his parents’ opposition, Chu stayed in Australia and studied voice and conducting at the University of Sydney and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

[4] Because of personal circumstances, however, he returned to Hong Kong in 2010 and joined the family business. To keep his music career going while maintaining a full-time job, Chu, a tenor, founded Cantabile, a chamber choir and orchestra of young musicians in Hong Kong.

[5] As its artistic and music director, Chu trains newly graduated music students and puts on shows featuring a repertoire of classical music, opera and songs from Studio Ghibli films. “The university education system can teach musicians how to be better at their instruments or give them more musical knowledge, but there is not enough training on how to behave in the professional world or what kind of mentality you need to have,” he said.

[6] On March 18, Cantabile will present The Fairy Queen, a version of the 1692 work by English composer Henry Purcell. “We are trying to create a very intimate connection with the audience that matches the actual opera in the Baroque period. The choir will be singing on stage and among the audience, walking on and off the stage,” he said.

[7] “The orchestra will be playing with period instruments, not modern instruments, to match the Baroque music at the time. I have also selected lighter voices for the choir, so they are not the same kind of operatic voices that you hear in romantic 19th-century operas,” he added.

[8] Keeping his parallel lives running abreast at the same time requires a bit of juggling. He estimates that he spends around 80 per cent of his time at Viva Knitwear, the family business, and the rest on Cantabile. But it all feels worth it, he said, when he watches young musicians’ careers take off internationally.

[9] “A chorus member now sings solos everywhere over Europe. Some of them have gone into a specific genre, like becoming Baroque specialists. This gives me the motivation to do more and nurture the next generation who have real talent but are financially unstable or not well enough to study overseas,” he said.

“The Fairy Queen”, Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, March 18, 8pm.

Source: South China Morning Post, February 27

1. The purpose of paragraph 1 is to show …
A. how busy and multifaceted Chu’s life is.
B. the highlights of Chu’s career.
C. why Chu decided to pursue music.
D. all of the above

2. Why was Chu’s trip to Australia mentioned in paragraph 2 not a typical getaway?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Find a word in paragraph 3 that means “strong disagreement”.
___________________________________________________

4. What does paragraph 4 detail?
A. challenges faced in establishing Cantabile
B. the reason why Chu joined the family business
C. Chu’s vocal range
D. the number of musicians currently in Cantabile

5. According to paragraph 5, what does Chu believe is missing from music education?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. How will Cantabile’s version of The Fairy Queen differ from a typical performance according to paragraph 7?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Based on paragraph 7, what other aspects of the performance might the audience find interesting?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. What do the parallel lives in paragraph 8 refer to?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. What challenges do some young musicians in Hong Kong face according to paragraph 9?______________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. A
2. It is because a getaway typically implies a relaxing or leisure trip, but Chu had an intense work trip involving an overnight flight, staying in a recording studio the entire weekend, and returning to work immediately upon arrival in Hong Kong. (accept all similar answers)
3. opposition
4. C
5. Music education lacks training on how to behave in the professional music world and the mentality needed for success.
6. The choir will sing on stage and among the audience.
7. The audience may also be interested in the period instruments and lighter voices selected for the performance.
8. Chu has two lives: running the family business and his involvement in Cantabile (accept all similar answers)
9. They can be financially unstable or not well enough to study overseas.