All the World’s a Stage

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPhil)’s resident conductor Lio Kuokman talks excitedly about his “funny-looking” score for his next big show. His annotations vary from his usual concert preparation: scribbled above musical notes and parts are words like “she’s raising her legs”, “look at her right hand”, “wait for her to jump down” or “she’ll move in a big circle”.

While Lio has often worked with dancers over the years, the challenge of this new production is on a different level: the HKPhil and Hong Kong Ballet are collaborating on the Asian premiere of the biggest locally produced show of recent years,. More than 300 performers—including 50 dancers, three solo singers, 80 adult singers from the HKPhil Chorus, 50 child