Police Choir has successful tour
Fifty-four members of the Police Choir and their families visited Inner Mongolia at the invitation of the Region's Department of Public Security, to attend the Fifth Police Concert of Inner Mongolia in the regional capital Hohhot. This was the choir's second visit to the Region after a successful performance at the Fourth Concert in September 2009.
Together with police choirs and performers from Inner Mongolia, Mongolia, the Russian Federation, Taiwan and Macau, the Police Choir staged two performances at the Hohhot Auditorium on June 27 and 28. The choir performed the finale from The Yellow River in Putonghua to the delight of the audience, and several English compositions, with full orchestral support.
The choir then crossed the Yellow River to perform at the new city of Ordos on June 30. Again the auditorium in the huge cultural centre was packed as the choir performed a lengthy ten-song repertoire in Putonghua, English and Cantonese, including some joint numbers with Ordos Public Security Bureau performers.
"The tour was undoubtedly a great success," said Police Choir Chairman Peter Hunt, "but that was no accident. It was the result of the hard work put in by many people, including the choir's Musical Director, Joseph Leung, who worked them ‘into the ground' with constant rehearsals to get their performance up to its peak; members of the Choir Committee, including Sergeants John Leung and Lam Chuen who worked indefatigably on the logistics of the tour; and, of course, the choir members themselves who gave their all to put on thoroughly impressive performances. Finally none of this would have been possible without the organisation and unflagging hospitality of our hosts."
Mr Hunt also paid tribute to the retiring Choir Chairman, Mr John Bicknell, who has helped build the choir up to its present robust state where, Mr Hunt noted, it can act as "fine ambassador for the Hong Kong Police".
In addition to the three public concerts, the tour gave choir members the chance to interact with police officers from the Mainland, Mongolia and Russia with comparisons of police work and social singing in five languages and dialects. "This showed," said Mr Hunt, "that when it comes to arresting criminals or belting out a good song, police officers are pretty much the same wherever they come from."
Last
minute
run through before the big show