News of “Glory to Hong Kong” Tops the List
Not only does music enrich our lives and cultivate our souls, but it also connects the society and keeps an account of the era. Due to civil unrest in Hong Kong in 2019, many concerts had to change programmes, were cancelled or rescheduled, affecting the livelihood of many arts groups. Meanwhile, some local music and community performances against the extradition bill were also promoted. Results of the “2019 Top 10 Music Headlines”, an annual project by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) Radio 4, are unveiled today (18 January). Among the 20 nominations, news on “‘Glory to Hong Kong’, a march composed by a local netizen, turns to a popular hit during the 2019 social movement in HK. The song is translated into many languages and becomes YouTube’s ‘Most-watched local music video’ of the year.”tops the list with 72.4% of votes.
Other notable music headlines include: “The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra wins the Gramophone 2019 Orchestra of the Year award for the Orchestra’s live recordings of the complete Ring Cycle by Wagner. The HK Phil is the first Asian orchestra to receive this international award.”and “London Symphony Orchestra performs with local pianists Colleen Lee and Aristo Shum during its three HK concerts with Sir Simon Rattle to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. These concerts are televised free across HK.”. These rank second and third with 71.1% and 67% of votes respectively.
Now in its 34th year, “Top 10 Music Headlines” reviews important local music happenings in the past year. This year, a shortlist of 20 items of music news was nominated by music practitioners, critics and cultural news editors. These items were selected based on their influence on cultural and academic development in Hong Kong. Listeners were then invited to vote online. Voting by the public accounted for 60% of the total and by professionals, 40%. During the polling period from 1 January to 10 January 2020, a total of 1,396 votes were received.
Voting results will be announced on Radio 4’s (FM97.6 – 98.9) “Artbeat” today (18 January) at noon and on the “2019 Top 10 Music Headlines”programmeon the following day (19 January) at 8pm. Both programmes will be archived on RTHK’s website (radio4.rthk.hk)and the RTHK Mine App. For the results, as well as photos and detailed audio descriptions of all nominated news, please visit the “2019Top 10 Music Headlines” special webpage (rthk.hk/musicheadlines2019).
