Nimrod

Anticipation was at its peak as the stage crew prepped the stage, technicians checked the lights, and orchestra members took their seats. Then it all came together.

The 2017 Rehearsal Camp Opening Ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts this evening. With Mr. Richard Pontzious as conductor, the first piece on the evening program was Hong Kong Our Home, composed by T-Ma and Jay Fung. The second piece, Nimrod, is from the orchestral work Enigma Variations by the English composer Edward Elgar.

AYO has come to play Nimrod every summer at the Opening Ceremony. It is now a 27-year old tradition, as it is also played to close the summer tour.

Mr. Pontzious recounts how this tradition came about: In 1987, Mr. Pontzious co-founded the orchestra with the renowned violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin. Nimrod was chosen to officially open the Rehearsal Camp, and Mr. Pontzious asked Maestro Menuhin if he would conduct the first performance of it. It was in reaction to this suggestion that Mr. Menuhin had told Mr. Pontzious, "You know, Richard, this is your orchestra. You should conduct this piece." 

As the melody of Nimrod filled the hall, the audience appeared both mesmerized and thrilled. As faculty member Mr. Marco Ambrosini, who teaches oboe, describes it, "Nimrod is pure magic." Listen to the moment when the orchestra plays the first bar, he says. "The magic starts right then and there."

Tonight, Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Mrs. Carrie Lam, and the AYO Board Chairman, Mr. Jim Thompson, were in the audience. As they stood to congratulate the orchestra, the concert hall filled with the sound of applause and pure delight.