• About Jeff von der Schmidt, the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble & LA International New Music Festival

Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt

~ A blog about new music, travel and food

Sound Travels with Jeff von der Schmidt

Category Archives: Hong Kong

Gongs & Bamboo: New Music from Hong Kong, Manila and Hà Nội

22 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Ancient Ensemble of Tonkin, Contemporary Music, Hanoi, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Ripieno Ensemble, Manila, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Cebu, Charles Kwong, Feliz Anne Reyes Macahis, Gilbert Nouno, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, IRCAM, Jonas Baes, Jose Maceda, Luong Hue Trinh, Magellan, MATA Festival, Ripieno Ensemble of Manila

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Asian Ensemble Workshop in Hong Kong brings together Manila and Hà Nội.

The Asian Ensemble Workshop in Hong Kong is an inflection point, at least in foundation speak. In plain English this June 2018 workshop is the start of something big!

From June 22 to 24 and sponsored by the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, these workshop meetings are discussing side-by-side projects deepening artistic connections between the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, the Ripieno Ensemble in Manila, and the Hà Nội New Music Ensemble. The goal is to get started with collaborative projects during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, building on the strengths of each city, formally establishing an international network between Hong Kong, the Philippines and Việt Nam.

In case you were wondering, this regional Southeast Asian network didn’t just fall from the sky fully formed in the last few days. And though Hong Kong is not officially in ASEAN, the city does function as a geographical fulcrum. A flight from Hà Nội is only about an hour, the same from Manila. I’m happy to provide some necessary background.

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The New Music Gathering Asia with the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble

08 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Music, Uncategorized, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

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Buru Quartet, Charles Kwong, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Karina Yau, Lio Kuokman, MATA Festival, Ripieno Ensemble of Manila, Sharon Chan, Todd Tarantino, Toshio Hosokawa, Unsuk Chin, William Lane

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We’re always happy to be in Hong Kong!

My extended family nostalgia appears spontaneously as soon as I set foot in Hong Kong. When I was a little boy, a man named Harry Woo often watched me for my parents at our family restaurant at 2601 West Sixth Street in Los Angeles. Harry was their loyal dishwasher and short order cook. On what has, over time, become for me a fateful Saturday afternoon in the 1960s, he showed me a letter he was writing to his family in Hong Kong with his Cantonese calligraphy.

I’ve never recovered from that moment. Harry’s letter to his parents in Hong Kong written in Cantonese taught me the world was a bigger place than I’d ever imagined.

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2015 Los Angeles International New Music Festival Starts July 7 at REDCAT!

01 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, Hong Kong, LA International New Music Festival, Latin Grammy Awards, Laura Mercado-Wright, Los Angeles, Mexico, Music, REDCAT, Southwest Chamber Music, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Toshio Hosokawa, Travel, Vietnam, Walt Disney Concert Hall

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Asia, California, Elliott Carter, Gabriela Ortiz, LA International New Music Festival, Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, Vietnam, Vu Nhat Tan

REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall is the new home of the LA International New Music Festival.

REDCAT in Walt Disney Concert Hall is the new home of the LA International New Music Festival.

I love studying scores early in the morning. Maybe it’s because I was born around 8:20 A.M. – some say that’s a good indication of a morning person. Those early hours are undistracted and quiet for learning chords, orchestration, voicings, tempi, interpretation, making all the new details familiar like old friends.

My rule of thumb is to go to sleep each night truly putting the day’s work away. If I can remember everything clearly when I wake up the next morning, I’ve learned just a bit more for the coming performances and then know what to repeat and when to move forward. That makes the next early morning so important for my work habit. And I knew today I’m ready for our LA International New Music Festival starting at REDCAT next week on Tuesday July 7 at 8:30 P.M., with a pre-concert talk at 8 P.M.

Because this morning I got a visitor telling me that just the right energy is coming out of my study!

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The Flowers of the Months: The Day Autumn Arrived in Hong Kong

03 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Hong Kong, LA International New Music Festival, Music, Tea, Travel, Uncategorized

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Asia, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Park, John Cage, Lock Cha Tea House, Peter Drucker, Tao Te Ching, Tea

Jan at Lock Cha Tea House in Hong Kong Park.

Jan at Lock Cha Tea House in Hong Kong Park.

Happy New Year for 2014!

I want my first post of the new year to begin with a big thank you to the over 2,000 readers in 62 countries who follow my Los Angeles International New Music Festival blog. From Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong, Mexico to Vietnam, South Africa to India, I’m encouraged by your interest and promise to keep the posts coming on a regular basis.

As promised in my last blog, I’m going to describe the day autumn arrived in Hong Kong this fall as Jan and I ventured into a full day in Hong Kong Park.

Got teacups?

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From the Fragrant Harbor of Hong Kong: Thank You, Harry Woo!

18 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Contemporary Music, Food, Hong Kong, LA International New Music Festival, Music, Southwest Chamber Music, Taipei, Tea, Travel

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Asia, China, Chinese, Chinese tea, Cong Caphe, Hanoi, Health, Hong Kong, Hongkong, Katz's Deli, Kowloon, Lin Heung Kui, Lin Heung Kui Dim Sum, Los Angeles, MIng Cha Tea, Phoenix Deli, Star Ferry

Hong Kong & Kowloon.

Hong Kong & Kowloon.

Trying to describe Hong Kong is like writing an encyclopedia – you’re going to need a lot of pages to cover all the subjects and possibilities. My marriage is a combination of Hollywood and Broadway: I’m from Los Angeles, California and my wife Jan is from Newark, New Jersey. Which means she spent all her teenage weekends in the Big Apple, as in attending the first Earth Day. Grandma took her to Radio City Music Hall with, of course, white gloves. She still has family in Brooklyn. I used to wait in the parking lot of 20th Century Fox with my uncle for my mom to get off work. Between the two of us, we know the two largest cities in the U.S. from childhood.

Each major city holds a lifetime of experience. I don’t think you’d get tired of any of them. Worn down by traffic and congestion, sure. But tired? Not me. Big cities equal endless opportunity. And just crossing from Kowloon to Hong Kong on the Star Ferry is the single greatest commute on Planet Earth.

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In the Month of Wintersweet Tea

11 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Contemporary Music, Food, Hong Kong, LA International New Music Festival, Music, Taipei, Travel, Uncategorized

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Asia, De Ye Cha Chi, Hong Kong, Kenting National Park, Marilyn Monroe, New York Times, Taipei, Tea, Teapot

The Autumn Fire Dragon in Shanghai.

The Autumn Fire Dragon in Shanghai.

Maybe it’s because my wife’s family is from Western Massachusetts. Perhaps it’s good luck or a gravitational pull that is mysterious and karmic. But we’ve now been pulled three times to Asia in the autumn. Be it China, Taiwan or Hong Kong, it’s a mirror image of my wife’s New England fascination with changing light and color this time of year. And now with the last final days of autumn leading into winter, we’ve arrived at the month of Wintersweet Tea.

I like epiphanies. Mine with tea happened in Taipei.

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Tea For Two in Kyoto, Shanghai, Hanzhou, Taipei & Hong Kong

01 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by Jeff von der Schmidt in Composers, Contemporary Music, Education, Food, Hanzhou, Hong Kong, Kyoto, LA International New Music Festival, Southwest Chamber Music, Taipei, Travel, Uncategorized

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Asia, Hanzhou, Hong Kong, Ippodo, John Cage, Kyoto, Ling Yin Temple, Ming Cha, Ryoanji Temple, Shanghai, Taiwan, Tea

The viewing & tea of Haiku master Basho in Kanazawa, Japan.

The viewing & tea pavilion of Haiku poet master Basho in Kanazawa, Japan.

I’ve started writing this post the day after Thanksgiving here in the U.S. I’m so gratified that over 50 countries have followed my blog in its first three months. Holidays are good moments to rest and reflect. After an energetic trip to Hanoi, Luang Prabang and Hong Kong married to a trip to the Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas last week, the combination of Thanksgiving with Hanukkah – Thanksgivakkuh – has put me in a mood to unwind.

And there is no better way to do that than with a slow gong-fu (read complicated) tea ceremony…

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