As my home instution HKUST celebrates its 35th anniversary, the university has the great honor of hosting the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, conducted by Yip Wing-sie, on April 14. The concert will feature works by my composition faculty colleagues Bright Sheng, Timothy Page, and Steven Snowden, as well as the coolest collection of orchestrated student drinking songs of all time by Brahms.
For me, this concert also marks both the premiere and 20th anniversary (!) of the symphony orchestra version of The Bells Bow Down, with the dazzling pianist Emil Holmström as soloist. Emil will revisit the piece with the Lohja City Orchestra and conductor Jukka Untamala soon after, on April 23, in a slightly reduced orchestration.
As a prelude of sorts to the world and European premieres, a chamber orchestra version, commissioned by Olli Mustonen received its first perfomance in September by the Lapland Chamber Orchestra and Anna Laakso, with Mustonen conducting. It has been hugely gratifying to see the concerto version of this work come to life after spending two decades in the drawer, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the April concerts.
Ilari Kaila, composer 