Hong Kong Palace Museum | HKPM SHOWTIME! – Christmas Choral Feast, by Hong Kong Inter-School Choir

Hong Kong Inter-School Choir

Established in 2021, the Hong Kong Inter-School Choir (“HKISC”) is one of the new programmes launched under the Hong Kong Inter-School Choral Festival (“HKICF”) Plus Initiative, which is one of the largest platforms for choral music education in Hong Kong.

HKISC aims to gather and help local primary and secondary students aged 7 to 17 who show passion and exceptional talent in choral music but lack the opportunities to be professionally trained. It provides them with professional choral and vocal training, as well as unique performance opportunities. HKISC encourages these students to apply what they have learned back and lead their own school choirs.

In 2022, HKISC was joined by around a hundred primary and secondary school students as well as Mr Kelvin Lau, Artistic Director of HKICF, and Mr Felix Shuen, Music Director of Diocesan Boys’ School.

HKISC has been at the forefront of promoting original local choral works by performing choral pieces written by local musicians, such as renowned composer Mr Leon Ko; Dr Steve Ko, Assistant Professor of the Education University of Hong Kong; and Mr Jason Liu, Assistant Conductor of Learners Chorus.

Kelvin Lau

Kelvin Lau has been the Artistic Director of Hong Kong Inter-School Choral Festival since its founding in 2018. He graduated, summa cum laude, from Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he was awarded the Berklee Achievement Scholarship.

Kelvin founded the Hong Kong Virtuoso Chorus, a registered charitable organisation, in 2011 and has since been serving as its conductor. Under his leadership, the choir not only hosted music concerts and participated in different performances but has also won multiple awards in local and international competitions.

Kelvin is an alumnus and choral instructor of the Hong Kong Children’s Choir (HKCC). Apart from performing as a main cast in three HKCC music productions, namely Hong Kong Rocks, A Tale from the Magical Beanland and King of Singers, he also frequently conducts and performs with the HKCC.

Kelvin is currently the Music Director of Diocesan Girls’ Junior School. Under his baton, the school performed in the Asia Pacific Choral Summit 2019 Opening Concert and received acclaim from international choral experts. In 2019, he was also invited to take part in the Summer Camp of the Toronto Children’s Chorus as a visiting conductor.

Felix Shuen

Since 2000, Felix Shuen has been performing regularly as a soloist and chorister in many choirs. In 2003, he received the Ms Barbara Fei Vocal Scholarship at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. He started his vocal training in 2006 and has studied under renowned vocalists, including Jimmy Chan, Prof. Katherine Cowdrick, Dr Bruce Gladstone, and Dr Robert McIver. His solo performances include Bach’s Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, Chilcott’s St. John Passion, Handel’s Messiah, Durufle’s Requiem, Howells’ Requiem, Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, and Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G Minor.

Felix Shuen also serves as the chorus master of HK Singfest and the conductor of the Hong Kong Young People’s Chorus and the internationally acclaimed Diocesan Boys’ School Choir. He is currently working as the Head of Diocesan Boys’ School’s Music Department. He obtained his Master of Music degree in conducting at the Eastman School of Music in 2012. He also received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2007.