Children taking musical instrument classes is common under the current education system. Some schools even emphasise “one musical instrument for each student” to show parents they value all-round development. With music classes everywhere, how many kids enjoy music from the bottom of their hearts? We are lucky that there is a group of music enthusiasts in YWCA Lok Wah Integrated Social Service Centre, who devote themselves to sharing happiness and spreading hope through their music.

Sforzando Wind Ensemble was founded in 2018, when 8 youngsters who had served as volunteers in YWCA left school. They looked for a place to play wind music, and at last settled in Lok Wah Integrated Social Service Centre. Since then, the size of the ensemble has expanded from 8 to 40 musicians during their first large-scale concert. Members include working youths and students from different higher education institutions and secondary schools.

The second concert would have been organised in February if there was no pandemic. Knowing it is impossible to hold a large-scale event in the short term, members decided to go online, hoping to use their beloved music to comfort people going through a hard time. 7 pieces were played with different wind instruments, like flutes, clarinets, saxophones, etc. Songs include “Below the Lion Rock”, the anthem of Hongkongers, and “Moonlight Densetsu”, the famous Sailormoon theme song. “The Season in which Fallen Leaves Dance”, melancholy in the beginning but lively and uplifting at the end, demonstrated the message of the musicians explicitly – hope.

The video clips of all pieces will be uploaded to the Facebook page of Sforzando Wind Ensemble. Stay tuned and enjoy! 

Song lists of the concert

1. Below the Lion Rock│Joseph Koo
2. Moonlight Densetsu│Tetsuya Komoro
3. Jounetsu Tairiku│Taro Hakase
4. The Season in which Fallen Leaves Dance│Tetsuya Watanabe
5. Sentimentale│Satoshi Yagisawa
6. Libertango│Astor Piazzolla
7. In the mood│Joe Garland