An immersive exploration of the three-decade songwriting partnership of Joseph Koo and James Wong, Soundtrack of Our Lives is a deep dive in a musical world spanning stage and screen, unravelling thickets of melodic inspiration colliding with the twists and turns of a tonal language.
Focusing on eight of their iconic songs, visitors will come face to face with the tug-of-war between Western musical invention and the contours of Cantonese through a range of evolving technologies, recalling the eras when Hong Kong first laid its local roots while branching into truly international reach.
As the city grew, so did the various media in our daily lives, affecting both how artists created music and the ways listeners consumed it. From their early days writing commercial jingles to their meteoric rise in the pop charts—when the lyrical potential of Cantonese became fully apparent, and when an upright piano gave way to state-of-the-art synthesizers—Koo and Wong spun an urban soundworld of limitless possibilities. Through their musical scores, written comments and recorded tributes, we witness points on their creative path bearing testament to a key time and place in Hong Kong’s history.
Tai Kwun is immensely grateful to Mr Ken Koo and Mrs Amy Koo, James Wong Study and Mr Johan Wong for their generous support in loaning scores and materials for Soundtrack of Our Lives.
The curatorial team would like to thank Dr Ng Chun-hung, Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong (CASH), Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, Hong Kong Dance Company and Dr Hedy Law and Dr Helena Wu of the University of British Columbia in Canada for their invaluable advice and research assistance.
Soundtrack of Our Lives is one of the contribution programmes of Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival 2024. Click here to learn more.
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