The Sound of Music: 15 Minutes with Andrea Fessler

Photography by King Fung

I was surrounded by music when I was a child. My father was an avid amateur pianist and he played the piano for hours every evening after he came home from work. 

My mother taught pre-school music classes in our home, and also had a beautiful singing voice. Occasionally, I would also turn pages for him when he played chamber music, or he would play while my mother and I sang.  Music was always a real family activity. 

When I was a child, I dreamed of becoming an actress.  Eventually, I realized how unrealistic that was, and turned my focus to law. 

But then I moved to Asia, and when I was considering a change of career, it made sense to get involved with arts and culture.

For me, being a corporate lawyer was like being a project manager – so maybe presenting a concert isn't so different from purchasing a company.  They both require project (and people) management skills, attention to detail and lots of contracts! 

When I started Premiere Performances in 2007, I really had no idea what to expect. I totally jumped into the deep end with my eyes shut. 

If I had really thought through my fears, I may never have started.  My hopes were clearly to have an appreciable impact on the arts and cultural life of Hong Kong, to raise audience standards, and to develop a reputation whereby people would associate Premiere Performances with performances of the highest quality, often by emerging artists well on their way to becoming the superstars of tomorrow.

The very first International Chamber Music Festival had a total of 8 events over 4 days with 10 musicians, and now we have expanded to a world class festival with over 30 events over two weeks and more than 20 musicians.   Every year, I think it just can't get any better and then somehow it just does.  

I think the classical music scene has really grown and developed in the last ten years, as has the audience base.  We have so many more options now that are at a very high international standard, both from our local organizations as well as more international touring musicians.  

Andrea Fessler and Cho-Liang Lin

This year's Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival is Cho-Liang Lin's fifth year as Artistic Director so we are treating this as a mini anniversary and bringing back artists from every year in which he has been at the helm. 

I hope this creates what feels like a "family" of artists for the festival and demonstrates how eager and willing our artists are to come back to Hong Kong to participate in our Festival. 

Andrea’s Top Picks for ICMF 2016

Of course, I think all the concerts are must-sees, but I am particularly excited about the following:

Brahms Quartet (Jan 20)

The group of musicians including Mr Lin, pianist Jon Kimura Parker and the Hoffman brothers have been friends and have played together since their time as students at Juilliard. 

An Afternoon in Vienna (Jan 24)

The music is sublime (you can't stop humming the 4th movement of the Schubert Trout Quintet) and the ensemble playing will be at its finest with both the Emerson Quartet and the Montrose Trio. 

Festival Finale (Jan 27)

This really showcases the range of the romantic period, and we are closing the Festival with the mighty Schumann Quintet which was the opening piece for the first Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival back in 2009. 

Beyond the Performances (Jan 16 – 26)

In addition to the usual free concerts, masterclasses and chamber music coaching, we have some brilliant events designed to enhance the audience experience of the Festival.  I am a huge fan of Dr Maureen Buja's lectures, and this year she has created a two-part series entitled "A Listener's Guide to Classical Music" which will give non-musicians a real understanding of how to be an active listener and get much more out of the concert-going experience.  

Our Up Close and Personal discussions allow the audience to get to know the personalities of some of our artists which makes it more fun to watch them play. This year we even have a special discussion aimed at young people entitled "Career Insights for Aspiring Young Musicians" featuring three of our younger artists.

Finally, I adore the Open Rehearsals - it is a rare opportunity to sit ten feet away from professional musicians (as if they were in your living room) and hear them work through a piece of music, pushing each other to be better all the while telling jokes and tatler_stories.  It gives you a completely different perspective when you watch the performance!

The International Chamber Music Festival takes place from January 20–27, 2016. For more information, please visit www.pphk.org