A Life-Long Love of Music__ Yu Fong-Ying

– Memories of the Classical Music Lovers Association (CLA, 1957) and of Music in WYK from around 1952 to 1964

Dedicated to Mr Alexander Wong (1927-2010) and Mr Wilson Hsueh (1924-2008), and In Memory of Jerome Shih (?-2005)
 

A.      Prelude

1952. Wah Yan College Kowloon moved its campus from the built-up Nelson Street in Mongkok to the magnificent spacious hill site on Waterloo Road. The old cluttered campus gave way to a new building on a slope that commanded an expansive view of the district. A standard-size grass football field greeted any visitors coming in, and a smaller sandy field further up served the everyday physical education classes and football enthusiasts. There were plenty of classrooms and soon a new hall, ample facilities to house all kinds of after-school activities, like debating and subject clubs. Fr Toner (1910-1983) was appointed rector of the school.

1954.  Mr Alexander Wong Chuen 王銓 joined Wah Yan Kowloon, one year before most of us entered the school. Shanghainese, he came with impressive credentials. “After arriving in Hong Kong, starting in 1952, he became a violinist in the former Sino-British Orchestra, now known as Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. By 1955, he was the soloist tenor in both Crescendo Choral Society and Hong Kong Choral Group. He also gave several solo performances in Hong Kong.” [i] Mr Wong taught music in the school from 1954 to 1958.

In those days, art, music, and physical education were not generally considered important subjects in the school curriculum.  Each of these compulsory subjects was allocated one lesson a week, about 36 to 40 lessons a year. They were seen as “minor subjects,” and taught for only three years, from primary six to Form 2, then dropped from the curriculum. Still, there was the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival which was started in 1949. After the devastation of war, a cultural subject like music was beginning to grow like a seedling on dry earth.

Wah Yan recognized the important role music played in its students’ development. As early as in 1947, Mr Wong Chin-Wah 黄展華 and Fr Terry Sheridan (1908-1970) founded the Wah Yan Dramatic Society [ii] to put on Cantonese operas in English for the benefit of the English-speaking public, instruction provided by the veteran Cantonese operatic actor Chan Fei Nung 陳非儂 (1899-1984).[iii]  In 1953, Fr Collins led a group of students to appear on a Radio Hong Kong music programme. Fr Toner, rector, wrote to the Irish Provincial, Fr Michael O’Grady on July 19, 1954, “The standard of teaching remains quite good if it is to be judged by examination results, but compared with some other schools we are weak in subjects such as biology, mathematics, art and singing.” [iv] He might well be thinking of schools like St Paul’s Co-ed with its famous student choirs under the direction of Professor Chao Mei-Pa 趙梅伯. Or the Diocesan Boys’ (another grant-in-aid school) which had a strong musical tradition. Its music teacher was Mr Henry Li (a graduate of St John’s University in Shanghai) who established a string ensemble there. Robert Lee from Tak Sun Primary School, our classmate up to Form 3, left Wah Yan Kowloon in 1959 to join DBS because of his violin friends. Mr Li “was one of the most formative music masters at the school (1957-63), with many students learning to play musical instruments during his time. Mr Li organized concerts with a balanced programme in which the teachers, their pupils and some of the leading soloists and musicians in Hong Kong … take part. These monthly concerts attracted a regular audience of local teachers of music.” [v] Such was the example set by one school. It is relevant to note that Robert is an accomplished violinist as well as a music aficionado, and continues to take an active part in Wahyanite reunions.

What the curriculum did not embrace, extra-curricular time and activities made room for music to grow, especially among students who were so inclined. Fr Morahan (1914-1992) produced a musical “Snow White” in 1953-54. With the appointment of Mr Alexander Wong, music took the high road.  The encouragement of Fr Toner combined with the efforts of Mr Wong gave birth to  a school choir in late December, 1954. It performed to a public audience for the first time on April 27, 1955, the day the new school hall officially opened. A second concert was given on May 16, for students who were not accommodated in the first instance.[vi]

From the two annual reports written by Mr Wong for The Shield in 1955 and 1956, it is abundantly clear he had a comprehensive plan for music education in school, ambitious given the time available. He stated four aims he would like the students to achieve: one, to gain the habit of appreciating orthodox music; two, to have the ability to read scores; three, to get to know musical instruments used in the playing of classical music; and four, to understand the rudiments and history of music. With the time allotted, he would spend half of it teaching students to sing songs, on average one song every three lessons, songs like the perennial “Santa Lucia,” “In the Gloaming,” and “Home Sweet Home” from “One Hundred and One Best Songs” (actually 102), and the rest teaching students knowledge about music. Musical knowledge was to be imparted osmotically during musical activities outside the school hours. [vii] He was the conductor for two Gilbert and Sullivan light operettas, “Trial by Jury” in 1955 and “HMS Pinafore” in 1956. “During his tenure as the music teacher, WYK won several awards in inter-high school music competitions.”[viii] Before he left Wah Yan in early 1959, he gave a farewell recital, well attended and much praised. [ix] Under him and the teacher after him, Mr Wilson Hsueh Wei-Shiang 薛偉祥, a series of “Lunch Time Music” was put on to spread knowledge about classical music. It was to exert a profound influence on the students.

1958. Mr Wilson Hsueh was recruited to fill Mr Alexander Wong’s position as music teacher. He too was singer and conductor, from Guangdong though he hailed from Tianjin. He conducted both the Intermediate and Senior Choirs. He was musical director in four Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. His lunch time music programme attracted a lot of attendees, as many as 400 sometimes. He sometimes invited local musicians to perform. He taught Chinese folk and art songs which he himself interpreted vividly. In addition, there were the singing competitions in the Schools Music Festival and his own occasional recitals, with guests like the noted soprano Barbara Fei 費明儀. During his time as music teacher (1958 – 1974), the musical life of the school crescendoed. [x]

A word about the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. They involved huge efforts and many people. The choruses came mainly but not exclusively from the choirs, and teachers other than Mr Wong and Mr Hsueh, for example Mr Laurence Tam (art) and Mr Patrick O’Flanagan (production), fathers like Fr Morahan, Fr McCarthy and Fr Mallin, to name but a few, took various parts in it.  Because the musicals were open to parents and others, they attracted a lot of public attention and placed Wah Yan Kowloon on the musical map.
 

B.      First Movement – Birth, Membership, Registration

It was against such a historical background that the self-initiated Classical Music Lovers Association (CLA) took shape. Yet it began in an unlikely place, the sandy, and dusty, football field of the college, where a large group of students who were admitted in 1955 played every school day without fail. After a short time, a group of students began to bond. Out of this group mostly, a dozen or so would gather at one of their homes to listen to classical music for enjoyment. They were Form 1 students then. They had been in the school for only one year, happily Mr Wong’s second year as music teacher. Out of the fever for football would develop the passion for music.

The Classical Music Lovers Association was born on February 2, 1957. February 2 was the birthday of the great violinist Fritz Kreisler. The date was suggested by Narnmen. The venue is less clear. Lung thought that a core group met at the cafeteria of WYK; Hin-Shing thought the meeting place was at the Bluebird Restaurant. (The "Bluebird" restaurant was on Queens Square, opposite the Kodak Building. A "Black Pepper" steak cost HK$ 8 per portion, at a time when the exchange rate was HK$14 to the £.)[xi] Perhaps the dinner at the Bluebird was a celebration of the inauguration. The core members (with their familiar names used in this article in brackets) were: Chan Chi-Kong (Kong) 陳至剛, Chan Yiu-Man (Narnmen) 陳耀民, York Chen York-Lung (Lung) 陳若龍, Chen Chia-Hwa (Bobby) 陳嘉華, Chow Chu (Jacob) 周柱, Chow Cheong (Tony) 周錩, Richard Li King-Hang (Bien) 李景行, Man Chung-Keung (Andrew) 文仲強, Shih Yen-Chung (Jerome) 史仁仲 and Wong Hin-Shing (Hing-Shing) 王顯誠. Associate members included Yondani Butt Chak-Cheung (Butt) 畢澤翔,Wu Homun 胡可滿, Albert Lam Kwong-Yu 林光宇, Michael Lee Sai-Cheung 李世昌, Philip Yu Fong-Lun 余舫麟, Yu Fong-Ying 余晃英 and others who joined occasionally.  Fr Farren, Principal from 1960-1966, was invited to be the adviser and Fr Mallin the sponsor.

Among the group, Butt was a ’62-er and was introduced by Lung to the group in 1960. He stood out as the musician, for he played the piano in a number of the school’s Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. So he was drafted to be the pianist for the group’s ensemble. Fong-Lun was the violinist.

At one time, around 1958-1959, the group tried to register CLA with the HK government. The law then specified that any regular meeting of five or more people must be a registered organization --- a way to clamp down on collective meetings. However, the attempt to list CLA as a registered organization was denied with no reason given, although a government officer visited Lung’s apartment at Victory Avenue where CLA was registered under. One possible reason was that the officer was not “greased.” The failure to register really amazed the group. Despite that, the association continued to function and did not meet with any trouble.

The association asked Fr Mallin to be the sponsor partly to satisfy a legal requirement of registration. There was another, stronger, reason. Fr. Mallin had a great influence on the group; he loved music and liked to mingle with the students.  One time, he joined the group on an all-day hiking picnic to the New Territories. During the lunch break, he took out a piccolo and started playing.  Everyone was surprised and impressed.  He taught Narnmen to play the flute.  Narnmen could not afford a flute then, so he saved enough to buy a used piccolo instead. 

Another Father who spread his musical wings like an umbrella was Fr Thomas O’Neill (1924-2009) who came to WYK around 1957 and became the Form-master of Form 2D.  He sang as tenor; he also played the piano. A great hiker, he went with students to picnics. He took over the Junior Choir, and the story of his refusing to accept one Norman So, later the first Chinese headmaster of WYK (1992-2008), has long passed into WYK folklore. He also conducted the church choir. Re-assigned to Singapore, he left around 1963 or 64. Many years later he visited Butt backstage when the latter was on a conducting tour in Singapore.[xii]  

C.      Allegro Spiritoso - Activities

Listening Nights & Concert Attendance

“Listening Nights,” as Lung called them, started in Narnmen’s home first on Wu Sung Street and then Bowring Street, and gave rise to the idea of rotating listening nights in the homes of schoolmates – Jacob and Tony (first Poplar then Argyle Street), Lung (Victory Avenue, where occasionally snippets of Peking opera could be heard from Lung’s father), Andrew (Nathan Road), Jerome (Kowloon City) and Butt (Kadoorie Hill). Jerome loved to conduct, and often displayed adorable gestures like a conductor while the rest sat or lay down listening to music. The meetings were always casual and were held once a week at first.

Tony remembered one such occasion: “I remember at one of our usual Saturday night gatherings, Jerome arrived and told us that he just had a conducting lesson. We were all quite puzzled. As it turned out, he attended a concert in which Herbert von Karajan conducted the Vienna Phil. He immediately showed us a few of the techniques he had observed. At that time, I never dreamt of attending a real concert. He certainly was way ahead of most of us. I also have fond memories of our gathering at his house in the room in the front of his house with those gigantic speakers and of course his knowledge and love for classical music.” [xiii]

The occasion mentioned by Tony coincided with a memorable event in orchestral concerts in Hong Kong. Herbert von Karajan took the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to tour the world in the '50s, and one of the cities they stopped over in was Hong Kong. It created quite a sensation in Hong Kong’s musical circle.[xiv]

Although CLA members picked and argued endlessly about their favorite conductors, and members attended the occasional concerts, it's Jerome who attended the first first-rate orchestral performance in Hong Kong. He therefore vividly described Karajan's conducting ways and demonstrated them during that listening night. Few among the members studied or viewed conducting methods in movies or books at that time, so Jerome’s memorized performance was that much more impressive. Lung, Narnmen and his sister once went to Hong Kong University in 1958 (?) to listen to the Hong Kong Phil performing Beethoven’s Symphony #6, but it was a disappointing affair.

Andrew has these memories of Jerome: “(In his home in Parc Oasis,) we listened to Weingartner’s Beethoven #3 (vinyl album) before I left him for good…He was not formally trained in the piano, but he once played the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata to me. I tried to follow, but no way.” [xv]

Up to his departure in 1961, Bien was mostly in charge of the programme for listening nights. On many occasions they had “Comparative Nights”: they listened to the same work the whole night, but by different conductors and soloists. They certainly did that for many of the popular symphonies and concertos.

In a meeting of the CLA in February 1961, 13 people attended: Kong, Narnmen, Lung, Bobby, Jacob, Tony, Bien, Andrew, Jerome, Hin-Shing, Butt, Michael Lee, and Fong-Lun.

In two meetings in 1962, at Butt’s place and Lung’s, 11 people attended. Coincidentally, on the  anniversary in 1964, the attendance was also 11.

Hin-Shing has provided a list of the kind of fare served out on listening nights:

“Beethoven - all symphonies, conducted by various conductors such as Weingartner, Mengelberg, Furtwangler, Walter, Toscanini, Koussevitzky, Klemperer and Karajan (the last 3 - "3 K"s, like our football players)[xvi]

Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Tchaikovsky - violin concertos - variously played by Kreisler, Menuhin, Francescatti, Elman, Heifetz

Beethoven - Piano Concertos # 4 and # 5 ("Emperor") - played by Schnabel, Horowitz, Gieseking, Curzon and others

Beethoven - many piano sonatas, esp # 8 ("Pathetique"), # 14 ("Moonlight"), # 21 ("Waldstein") and # 23 ("Appassionata")

Bizet - the opera "Carmen"; don't remember who conducted, but Jacob had a set of LPs

Tchaikovsky - Symphony # 6 ("Pathetique") - played at least by Furtwangler at one of the LP concerts. While listening to someone conducting Pathetique, half way through, the music was very quiet, and then suddenly a loud bang - I remember one of the classmates jumped up and yelled.

Tchaikovsky - "1812" Overture - can't remember who the conductor was.

Wagner - various overtures such as "Die Meistersinger" and "Tannhauser"; who can forget "Ride of the Valkyries”?; but I forget who the conductors were.

After many of the core members left, there was one LP session in which I introduced Mahler's Symphony # 4 (Jacob had the LP) conducted by Mengelberg.  At the time, not many, including myself, had heard of Mahler at all.  The sound to me was quite "modern" and "unfamiliar" then.  I remember Yiu-Kwok was there that night, but I'm not sure if he still remembers or not.”

He added, “As you can see from the above, our favorite period was quite limited - mostly from Mozart (late 18th century) to Tchaikovsky (late 19th century), a span of about a century.  (We did of course listen occasionally to composers outside this period, for example, Bach (late 17th century), Stravinsky (20th century).”

Record Shopping and Collecting

Tony recalled gathering in a record outlet, Moutries (with the mercenary Chinese translation of 謀得利 “gaining profit”), in Prince’s Building (or Alexander House?) in Central District. It was then that the birthday of the association was suggested. CLA members used to hang out in Moutries to buy LPs or just to listen as it had small sound-proof rooms where one could actually listen in peace and quiet. In those days, only two record stores were frequented. The other music shop was Chung Yuen 中原. Only Moutries had listening booths with high acoustic calibre. Tai Lum 泰林 was a music shop on Nathan Road not often patronized by them.

Among the members, Jerome had the most enviable collection of musical albums. Andrew has these clear memories of it: “He has a big, big collection of classical music. I once visited his house in 又一居 (Parc Oasis) and his bedrooms and living room were lined with shelves of classical music CD and vinyl albums, must be more than 20,000. When I was there, he just received another box of vinyl albums.” [xvii] According to Paul Lee (’62), “His huge collection of books and records have been accepted by HK Chinese U.” [xviii]

Ensemble

For their most humble ensemble, a drum was donated by the late Mr Chow Man 周萬 (Jacob and Tony's father), who was the most enthusiastic parent among all CLA families, coming up with different gadgets. In fact, the parents who were the de facto hosts of all their “listening nights” were generous and supportive. Not only did they let them mess up their houses, they unfailingly provided “siuye” (evening snack) like red bean soup or the like every evening they met.

Tony or Hin-Shing might be the drum player. Fong-Lun and Kong played the violin. Chi-Kin, Kong's brother, a piano player, also played violin with them. Of course they had Butt play the piano in practicing all their pieces. Narnmen played his piccolo and sometimes the Chinese flute. Lung also played the Chinese flute. Bien played the harmonica with Hin-Shing, and sometimes also the Chinese flute and the drum. There might be one or two pieces of percussions instrument as well, since they were easy to add. Jerome conducted. Narnmen sketched out the music. One time, someone in his excitement busted a drum! “Lots of fun!” Lung recalled.

The ensemble had three or four pieces in its repertoire. One piece was the second movement of Mozart's Eine Klein Nachtmusik, Romanze. Then there were Beethoven’s symphonies:  the fourth movement of his 9^th (the “Ode to Joy” part) and the second movement of his 5^th.  In the latter, Yiu-Kwok was in the Chinese recorder (牧笛) section. They might have played the Blue Danube as well.

Bulletin

Hin-Shing used to send monthly or quarterly reports to Fr Farren and Fr Mallin about their weekly record concerts, though the practice stopped after he entered HKU in 1963. 

An official bulletin was published by the CLA. Although very modest, the publication took them  quite a lot of efforts.  They even had the front cover printed in color-- red and gold. Narnmen designed the cover which featured a lyre at the centre. Hin-Shing wrote the editorial ("Thanks were due ..." etc).  Bien wrote an article about conducting.  Jerome wrote an article. Narnmen, Bien and Lung copied all articles on wax-plates before they could be printed. The printing was done in the HK-Industrial-Chemical-Association, through Lung’s father’s connection. The association was located in the Central District. The printout was probably a total of 50 copies. That was the only issue. With such elaborate efforts put in, no wonder it was treasured, and Bien took his copy with him to the States in 1961. Unfortunately, no copy can be traced today.

Observing Festivals and Outings

The CLA group spent much of their outside-of-school time together, and further common interests were consolidated. There were the annual festivities that they observed together, often after an evening of music, for example during the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival and the Eve of the Chinese New Year. They would visit the flower market, or go up a hill to watch the moon and share moon cakes, or attend midnight mass on Christmas Eve (though only a few of them were Catholics). They had many outings together: hiking, camping and swimming, to Tai Po Tsai, Ho Chung, Po Lin Monastery, Tai Mo Shan, Shek O, Lama Island, etc.
 

D.      Unfinished Symphony -- To Be Continued

The CLA survived the departure of Bien in August 1961, Butt, Andrew, Narnmen, Bobby, and Fong-Lun in 1962, Jacob in 1963 and Jerome in 1964. The key members of the association were  quite depleted by then.  Despite that, it continued to prosper for a while. The 1964 or seventh anniversary celebration held in February at Tony’s home saw some younger brothers filling the shoes of their elder ones. Present were 11 people: Fong-Ying, Peter Man Chung-Tak 文仲德 (Andrew’s young brother), Albert Lam, Lung (who was to leave HK shortly), Chan Chi-Kin 陳至健 (Kong's brother), Chen Kut-Wun 陳吉雲 (Lung's younger brother), George Man Chung-Sun 文仲信 (Andrew’s youngest brother), Chan Yiu-Kwok 陳耀國 (Narnmen’s younger brother), Tony (Jacob’s brother), Hin-Shing, and Dicky Chen I-Hua 陳怡華 (Bobby’s young brother).

CLA was active from 1957 to sometime after 1964.  In 1963, some members in HK entered HKU and more pursued further studies abroad. There might still be a few listening nights after 1964, but definitely not many. If there were, it would have to be during HKU summer vacation months as Hin-Shing resided in May Hall, HKU for three years from 1963 to 1966. He emigrated to Canada in 1969.

At one meeting, the group tossed out the idea that they should meet again at the WYK cafeteria on February 2, 1992, at precisely 2:00 p.m. (making 1992-2-2-.2 a mnemonic; just as the 50^th graduation reunion had the mnemonic of 2011-11-11), to celebrate the 35^th anniversary of the founding of CLA. On the destined day, two people turned up – Lung, then just under half a century old … and his son! Lung contacted some group members and had a gathering elsewhere later.

Hin-Shing remembers how he tried to continue the spirit of CLA when he became a teacher: “After my graduation from HKU in 1966, I taught at Bishop Hall Jubilee School (Anglican high school) for 3 years. I used as a model our CLA record concerts a few times during my years at BHJS and invited some students to my home to listen to classical music. Even a few years ago, some of my former students still remembered the record concerts.  One mentioned to me that it was the first time he was introduced to classical music. He still enjoys listening to classical music, among other hobbies. I do feel very proud about our CLA activities and am happy that some of my former students benefited from the experience.” He tried to organize mini listening to CD concerts with one or two old members with less success. During the 2005 Toronto reunion of  '61 grads, Hin- Shing, Narnmen, Lung, Bien, and maybe some other classmates watched Klemperer conducting Beethoven's 9th at Hing-Shing’s apartment.  The CLA lived on.
 

E.       Rondo – Some Themes

The period of time when CLA was active coincided with the golden era of Wah Yan-produced musicals (See Appendix), in particular those by Gilbert and Sullivan – seven in eight years. It spanned the time period of three principals (Fr Toner 1952-57; Fr Dargan 1957-60; and Fr Farren 1960-66).

CLA was inspired by the musical education in the school, in particular the music appreciation opportunities and the mentoring teachers, Mr Wong, Mr Hsueh and Fr Mallin. It was nurtured in some families, and the core was formed by a small group of classical music enthusiasts, about half a dozen, who first came together as football enthusiasts. The two interests intertwined and strengthened each other. The association grew through meetings in members’ homes, and spread via the family and the classroom. It became a stable formation around which other common interests congealed, serving to bind in long-lasting friendship those associated with it.

For such an informal group to function for such a long time, there has to be a core group and within it, one or two leaders. As Bien saw it, “The two strongest driving forces that shaped our entire life of classical music loving were Narnmen and Jerome. Narnmen, heavily influenced by his elder brother, Yiu-Hung 耀洪, who went abroad in our days and whom we never met, led us to the first glimpse and real taste of classical music through his emphatic phrases and vivid body language. We learned to like classical music. Jerome, with his abundant knowledge of conductors and musical stories, led us to be further fascinated by the music we listened to and brightened the fire ignited by Narnmen.”

Younger brothers of members were drawn into the activities of the group in one way or another. Tony, Jacob’s brother, and Yiu-Kwok, Narnmen’s brother, were enthusiastic members. Andrew’s two younger brothers, Peter and George, joined them for the 1964 February anniversary gathering and some other listening nights. Chi-Kin, Kong’s brother, once played a part in the ensemble.

The association as a regular entity broke up because most of the members left Hong Kong, but in a real sense, it goes on, for the experience led to a life-long love of classical music. For some, it was to broaden to include different kinds of music such as Chinese art, folk and instrumental songs; Peking and Cantonese opera; English pop.

Of the members, only Fong-Lun and Butt made a profession out of music; they were already musically well-trained when they joined up. Philip Yu Fong-Lun is a violin teacher (as well as an educational consultant) and Yondani Butt a professional conductor.  Their development as professionals hinged of course on many contributory factors and influences other than the CLA.

It is sufficient to claim that largely through the CLA, music has become an intimate part of the lives of members of the association to this day, enriching and sustaining them. The common interest certainly bonds them both as music lovers and life-long friends.

Bien put it most poignantly: “Those were the good old days, so pure, so innocent, so committed, so beautiful.”
 

(About this informal history

I reconstructed an account of the CLA and researched the background while assisting Hin-Shing in his series of “In Memoriam” dedicated to deceased fathers, teachers and schoolmates who were with us in WYK 1955-1963. The series will form part of the 2011 Golden Jubilee Reunion CD of the Class of ’61 which Hin-Shing is producing.  As well, some classmates reminisced about the CLA. This write-up, in particular the part about the club itself, was based on email exchanges in mid-February, 2012, among Wong Hin-Shing, Andrew Man, York Chen, Chan Yiu-Man, Richard Li King-Hang, Tony Chow and Yondani Butt. I edited and arranged the words of the email into paragraphs. Two drafts were sent out for comments and correction.  I received prompt feedback from almost all the members of the core group. The article can be considered a joint effort.

A sincere thank-you is due first to the generosity of all the members of the CLA for allowing me to cobble together this informal account from their emails. Andrew Man and Yiu-Kowk corrected a number of musical howlers. Tony, Lung, Hin-Shing and Bob Lee supplied corrections and additional information.  Bien and Yiu-Kwok went through the text with a fine comb and provided valuable details. A very special thank-you to Wong Hin-Shing, without whose archival knowledge of things WYK this article would not have been possible.  He will complement this account with a section full of photos, which will also be part of the CD.  

Although a collaborative venture into the past, the interpretation and analysis I placed on the narrative remains mine, and I am responsible for any errors and misinterpretations therein. ) 

Yu Fong-Ying (Class of ’61)

March 18, 2012
 

Appendix

For the record, here is a list of the musicals that formed part of the Wah Yan music tradition in our days (1955-1963), unearthed by Hin-Shing from The Shield, for which many thanks:

1953 -1954 musical Snow White (Producer: Fr Morahan)

1955-1956  Trial by Jury (Producer: not mentioned) (Director: Fr Morahan) (Conductor: Mr  Wong)

1956-1957  HMS Pinafore (Producer: Fr Morahan) (Director: Mr Wong)

1959-1960  Pirates of Penzance (Producer: Fr McCarthy) (Director: Mr Hsueh)

1961-1962  Iolanthe (Producer: Mr O'Flanagan) (Director: Mr Hsueh)

1962-1963  Mikado (Producer: Mr O'Flanagan) (Musical Director: Mr Hsueh) (Director: Fr Egan)

1963-1964  Yeomen of the Guard (Producer: Fr Egan) (Musical Director: Mr Hsueh) (Stage Directors: Mr Francis Kong & Mr Joseph Lai)

END