[Chinese]

King's Harmonica Quintet was established in 1987 by five harmonica enthusiasts in Hong Kong who are determined to create a revolutionary form of harmonica performance aiming to exploit the capabilities of harmonica to the fullest extent.  The Quintet transcribes classical string quartet pieces for two treble chromatic harmonicas, two tenor chromatic harmonicas, and one bass chromatic harmonica.  Whereas the originality of the works is preserved, special techniques and tone quality of harmonica ensemble are incorporated to leave the audience a stylistic and innovative presentation of the music.  The Hong Kong South China Morning Post appraised this unique musical exercise as "the most fascinating exercise in music rearrangement since Kizuhito Yamashita played a solo of Dvorak's New World Symphony".  It has explicated the Quintet premiere concert as "blowing up a real harmonica storm" and being "one of the most astonishing concerts Hong Kong had presented recently".  It also highlighted that the reading of Shostakovich's Third String Quartet was "virtually an improvement on the Russian's work" (full text).

The King's Harmonica Quintet is now recognized as one of the finest harmonica ensemble groups in the world and probably the only quintet that almost exclusively performs classical music!  The British classical harmonica legend, Douglas Tate, once reviewed the Quintet's performance and expressed, from a musician's viewpoint, that "this is the finest example of group playing that I have ever heard using harmonica ... an exceptionally high standard of musicality".  In particular, "the bass playing is outstandingly sensitive, it doesn't sound like a bass harmonica being played!"

The Quintet's extensive repertoire embraces three centuries of musical development, both in Eastern and Western cultures.  Their works range from the music of Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Dvorak, Elgar, Borodin to contemporary composers such as Shostakovich, Myaskovsky, Virgil Thomson and Komei Abe.  The superb interpretation of Chinese music such as the Butterfly Lovers' Concerto and the Spring Festival Overture has captured exceptional applause from both Western and Eastern audiences, as highlighted by a full house standing ovation after the performance in the 1996 SPAH (Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica) Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

A milestone in the development of the harmonica repertoire was established in February 2000.  Five works, totaling to over an hour of music, were commissioned for the Quintet, some in collaboration with other musical instruments: sheng, piano, harp and percussion.  The Quintet made the world premiere performances of these works, written by two Hong Kong composers Hui Cheung-wai and Mui Kwong-chiu, in the prestigious Hong Kong Arts Festival.  The original repertoire for harmonica quintet has since then been expanded to over 20, the most significant breakthrough being the symphonic debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2002, performing two works by Hui Cheung-wai: Rendezvous Paris and Reflections from a Pentagonal Crystal.  Since then, the Quintet have further collaborated with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong in March 2004 and August 2004 respectively.

In October 1995, the Quintet made its overseas debut in the 1995 World Harmonica Festival at Yokohama, Japan.  The Quintet and its members made 7 entries in the Solo, Duo, Trio and Group (4-6 persons) categories of the competition and achieved an unmatched overall successful result.  In all 7 entries, they were awarded with the first 6 positions in their respective categories.  More notable results were the 2nd place in Group category, 1st and 2nd place in Duo category and 3rd place in Trio category.  The Quintet joined the 1997 World Harmonica Festival again in October 1997 at the home town of Hohner - Trossingen in Germany.  In the Group category of the competition, the Quintet attained the highest honour by seizing the title of world champion.  In other categories, its members once again achieved remarkable results: the silver medal, 4th and 5th places in the Open category and the bronze medal, 4th and 5th places in the Chromatic Solo category.

Since its debut in the 1995 World Harmonica Festival, the Quintet appeared on the international concert stage regularly.  During the Festival, the Quintet was invited to a gala concert as a result of its amazing performance in the competition.  In the winners' concert subsequent to the Festival, critic from Radio Television Hong Kong commented that "in all these works, the Quintet showed off the uniqueness of harmonicas as well as reproduced faithfully the style of the string quartet pieces".  The form of harmonica quintet was recognized as "opening up a new avenue for harmonica enthusiasts" (full text).  The American Harmonica Newsletter also described the live recording of the concert as one "convincing people that the harmonica is a tremendously versatile, strong and delicate musical instrument".  The Quintet was "doing untold credit for the harmonica method and application" and that "a tremendous pride of accomplishment was displayed".

In the 1997 World Harmonica Festival, the Quintet was honoured to be invited to perform in the "Friends for Friends" concert.  The Quintet presented a favourite work in its repertoire: Villa-Lobos' String Quartet No.1.  Together with Dr. Poon Chung-keung, one of the founding member of the Quintet, the sextet performed a bold arrangement of Rossini's Barber of Seville Overture.  With these spectacular arrangements and performances, the distinct characteristics of the Quintet as a unique harmonica chamber music group were fully demonstrated, deeply impressing harmonica lovers around the world who attended the Festival.

In the first Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival held in October 1996 at Taipei, the Quintet was among the top Asian harmonica players who were honoured to be invited to perform in the gala concert.  Ho Pak-cheong, the first treble harmonica player of the Quintet, was one of the adjudicators for the harmonica competition.  He also conducted a workshop for more than 100 harmonica enthusiasts on the skills of playing chromatic harmonica and the art of harmonica quintet.  Immediately after the Festival, the Quintet made a tour around Taiwan to play for a total audience of over 10,000.  The response of the people who met the Quintet is best described by a quote from Thomas Colvin, who was also in the panel of adjudicators, "astonishing and inspiring ... no one can claim that the harmonica lacks merit as an instrument after hearing this group ... such clarity of sound, and nuances of delivery" (full text).  In August 1998, 2000, and 2002, the Quintet was once again invited to be the guest performers and adjudicators in the second Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival, third Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival and fourth Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival held at Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and Atsugi (Japan) respectively. In the third Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival, the Quintet representing Hong Kong was unanimously endorsed by Asia Pacific countries to host the 5th Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival in 2004.

The members of the Quintet are:

Note: Rocky joined us in 1991, replacing Dr POON Chung-keung who left for Canada for further studies.