Hong Kong Police Band to perform at Expo
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| The Hong Kong Police Band will perform inside the Expo Garden as part of the Expo's Hong Kong Week celebrations. |
The Hong Kong Police Band is bringing its bagpipes, Scottish tartans, and broad repertoire of ethnic ballads, classic songs and modern pop hits to Shanghai.
The band, which has a history of more than 50 years, brings together traditional and modern elements from the Asian metropolis, including the British legacy from its colonial age and other Asian and Indian music.
The troupe's arrival is part of the Expo's Hong Kong Week, which runs from Oct 18 to 22.
In a recent rehearsal, the band's wind section played the pop tune I Want Nobody But You in an energetic manner that made audience members want to get up and dance.
"We can play Chinese folk songs and music from Southeast Asian countries. That's our specialty, in communication with other military bands around the world," said Leung Bo-kun, chief inspector of the Hong Kong Police Force.
All the band members have to pass physical tests for the Hong Kong police force. Theoretically, they can drop their instruments at any time and pick up guns to protect Hong Kong citizens from criminals.
"Our band members don't patrol the streets or carry out regular police duties, because we already have a busy schedule of performances," Leung said.
"We perform for official and public events, and charity events, but we don't do commercial performances.
"It is difficult to join us, because you don't just have to play an instrument - you also have to pass the test for police enrollment, such as shooting," he said.
"However, musicians are sometimes not so strong, so I have to tell them to work out and build up their bodies before applying."
More than 50 of the 84 band members will participate in the performances in Shanghai.
They will be accompanied by dancers that represent different aspects of Hong Kong culture, as well as signature images of the city, such as fish balls on a string and Oceania Park mascots.
On Oct 16 and 17, the band will perform twice a day at Century Square on Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, at 1 pm and 6 pm. After this, it will hold mini concerts in the Expo Garden's Celebration Square on Oct 18 and 19, at 3 pm and 5 pm. It will also feature in the Expo's daily parade along the Expo Boulevard.
The band was founded as an amateur group of 20 members in 1951. Three years later, a bagpipe section was added. The pipe band adopted MacIntosh tartans in memory of one of their former police commissioners, who was of Scottish ancestry.
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