The bad news: I was looking forward to a number of performances of Veden väki (The Underwater Folk), co-commissioned by the Minimalia festival, and the Uuden Ajan Ensemble led by conductor Tapio von Boehm. Two concerts scheduled for this spring in Helsinki, including the premiere, had to be postponed due to the pandemic. With kind permission of the commissioning parties, I was given the great opportunity to have it premiered by the Hong Kong Philharmonic, conducted by Peter Biloen. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, that concert was also postponed.
However, the awesome fiddler Patrick Yim came back to Hong Kong for a visit, and of his many engagements, a solo violin recital at the Midday Oasis series at CUHK’s Chung Chi College chapel was not cancelled. The program includes the premiere of Solitude, a solo work Patrick commissioned from me at the onset of the pandemic two years ago. The event has been moved online, but considering the present conditions, this is incredibly lucky. You can watch the broadcast here this coming Monday, March 14, at 1:30 PM HKT.
Ilari Kaila, composer 