Dr LUNG Heung-wing
Percussionist
Dr LUNG Heung-wing was born into a family of musicians. With parents engaged in the education sector, Dr LUNG's childhood dream was to become a teacher. He started learning music at the age of six and received training from Dr YIP Wai-hong, BBS, MH and his wife. When he was nine, Dr LUNG joined the Hong Kong Children's Choir as a xylophone player, which marked his first experience with percussion and gained him the chance to perform in Singapore and Malaysia. During the preparation for his debut, as Dr LUNG recalled, his mother drew the xylophone keyboard on a piece of kraft paper for his practice. He was so devoted to his practice that he got blisters on his knees.
Dr LUNG successfully applied for The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund (the Fund) twice. After his secondary education, Dr LUNG enrolled in the Department of Music of the former Hong Kong Baptist College and majored in piano. Later in 1978, he successfully applied for the Fund and became one of the first batch scholars. He then went to the United Kingdom to study percussion. Upon graduation, Dr LUNG returned to Hong Kong and joined the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra as a percussionist. In 1994, Dr LUNG successfully applied for the Fund again and went to the United States to study a PhD programme.
Dr LUNG indicated that the scholarship had enabled him to further his studies overseas and broadened his horizons. As his foreign schoolmates excelled at sight-reading skills, Dr LUNG had to work extra hard and study at school till midnight every day. When he was awarded the scholarship for the second time, Dr LUNG went to study djembe and steel drum music at the West Virginia University in the United States. During that time, Dr LUNG studied round the clock to cope with a substantial amount of academic work. With his perseverance and dedicated efforts, Dr LUNG was the first PhD student who completed the whole programme within one year.
Dr LUNG was grateful to the Fund for fostering his sense of mission for music. He was never bored playing music and he hoped that he could continue to serve the city and make contribution to the development of percussion in Hong Kong.
Last but not least, Dr LUNG expressed his gratitude to the Fund which made his dream come true and turned it into his career. Without the scholarships, he might just be an ordinary music teacher and could only treat his xylophone as something for fun. If so, he would not have been able to enjoy the rich diversity of percussion.
Dr LUNG was thankful that during the past 30 years, the Fund has enabled many musicians to broaden their horizons, enhance their professional artistic knowledge and serve the community. He regarded his dedication to the development of percussion in Hong Kong and the nurture of local music talent as his greatest achievements. He was also proud to have held two percussion concerts featuring 10000 people in 2002 and 2007 respectively, which have set a Guinness world record.