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Cantopop for Peace

Cantopop classics like “Below the Lion Rock” remind people how songs can bring people from all walks of life together. In trying times, we need the power to unite people again and face the challenges together. In this competition, participants can compose peace-themed lyrics for the an original melody (composed by Phoebus Chan). During creation, we will learn the history and culture of Hong Kong Cantopop, bringing peace and positive emotion to the community.

Programme curated by Ms Candy Liu

awardee's mv

Available at

2022 pcc event video

Please find the winning awards at the end of the page

Programme details

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Target Participants

Participants can enrol as an individual or a team of 2-6 people who are aged 8 or above

Participant Groups

Participant Group
Junior GroupAged 8-11
Youth GroupAged 12-18
Public GroupAged 19 or above

  

awards

NameAward
Junior CantoPop for Peace AwardCertificate
Youth CantoPop for Peace AwardCertificate
CantoPop for Peace AwardCertificate

Judging Panel

Professor Chan Wing Wah, JP

  • Chairman, The Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong
  • Associate Dean, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) School of Music

 

Mr Leung Siu Tong, MH

  • Honorary Chairman, Hong Kong Aided Primary School Heads’ Association
  • Supervisor, Xiangang Putonghua Yanshishe Primary School of Science and Creativity
  • Consultancy, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Area Music Education Alliance for Primary and Secondary Schools

 

Ms Ada Chan

  • Hong Kong Lyricist
Judging criteria
  1. Expression of the theme of “Peace” (40%)
  2. Rhyme & compatibility between music and lyrics (20%)
  3. Evocation of emotional response (10%)
  4. Singability & memorability (10%)
  5. Identifiability of rhythm pattern (10%)
  6. Inclusion of SDG elements (10%)

Note: Age group 8 to 11 will be judged on one chorus only

1

Enrolment

To join this programme, click “join programme” to fill in the application form.

Upon successful application, your team will be given a piece of melody, for which they will compose Cantonese lyrics on the theme of peace.

The composition must be completed and submitted before the deadline.

person_add Join programme


registration closed

2

Tutorials

Tutorial videos are provided for participants to help them familiarise themselves with the history of CantoPop and Cantonese lyrics composition. All participants are advised to watch the tutorial clips before lyrics submission to Dropbox.

Tutorial 1
History & culture of CantoPop

In the tutorial, you will learn about the cultural context of the production and consumption of CantoPop, how the genre came to be in the 1970s, how it became associated with Hong Kong pop music, and its revival in the 2010s.

Tutor
Candy Liu

Candy Liu graduated from City University of Hong Kong, specialising in Information Technology. She is currently the CEO of Shine Techonlogy, a provider of innovative EduTech platforms.
Candy is a descendant of the indigenous Liu family of Sheung Shui. Candy's father, a serviceman who served the overseas British Forces in Hong Kong, had a strong, positive influence on her upbringing. Candy is a charitable figure in many communities, where she use technology to improve the lives of people, the old and the young alike.

Tutorial 1
Please find the below recording.

Tutorial 2
Cantonese Lyrics Writing Technique

Cantonese lyrics composition is a sophisticated art. Through this tutorial, participants will learn the basics of lyrics composition, including its origin, rhyming, pitch, the nurture of creativity, sources of inspiration and the life cycle of a piece of pop music; participants will gain a better understanding of lyrics composition and their interests thereof.

Tutor
Ada Chan 詩詞

Ada is a Hong Kong lyricist. She was awarded the 2019 “CASH Golden Sail Music Awards” “The Best Lyrics”. Her work includes "We Grew This Way" (我們都是這樣長大的) by Sammi Cheng, "Jin Gu Zhou" (緊箍咒) by ERROR, "Wailing Wall" (哭牆) by Vivian Koo and "Yi Ren Lai Yi Ren Qu" (一人來一人去) by Alfred Wu and more.
Meanwhile, she founded the Composition and Lyrics Writing for Cantonese Songs Facebook exchange group (作曲填詞（廣東歌詞）交流區」Facebook 群組) in 2013 to foster the creation of Cantonese songs.

Tutorial 2
Please find the below recording.

Tutorial 3
Cantonese Lyrics Writing Technique

Cantonese lyrics composition is a sophisticated art. Through this tutorial, participants will learn the basics of lyrics composition, including its origin, rhyming, pitch, the nurture of creativity, sources of inspiration and the life cycle of a piece of pop music; participants will gain a better understanding of lyrics composition and their interests thereof.

Tutor
Gigi Chi Ying LAM

Gigi Lam is a musician-educator and workshop facilitator in schools, hospitals and community centres across Hong Kong and the UK. She is the co-founder of Little Bean Theatre, a family Cantonese theatre based in London. She is currently studying in a doctoral degree at Royal College of Music, London.

Tutorial 3
Please find the below recording.

Workshop 1
Cantonese Lyrics Writing Technique

Cantonese lyrics composition is a sophisticated art. Through this workshop, participants will learn the basics of lyrics composition, including its origin, rhyming, pitch, the nurture of creativity, sources of inspiration and the life cycle of a piece of pop music; participants will gain a better understanding of lyrics composition and their interests thereof.

Tutor
Gigi Chi Ying LAM

Gigi Lam is a musician-educator and workshop facilitator in schools, hospitals and community centres across Hong Kong and the UK. She is the co-founder of Little Bean Theatre, a family Cantonese theatre based in London. She is currently studying in a doctoral degree at Royal College of Music, London.

Tutor
Lyricist 文探花 （捕風）
Member of the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong, graduate of the Baron School of Music in Hong Kong. Studied under famous lyricists and producers such as Albert Leung, Kin Yan, Cheung Cho Kiu, Kelvin Ngai and Dominic Chu, with the belief that a melody without lyrics is a melody without a soul.
The 2015 winner of the Baron School of Music Lyrics Composition Competition started the musical career in the same year, has since collaborated with many musicians and remains dedicated to the heritage of Cantonese songs. The lyricist has published pop songs and themes for stage plays, including work for Commercial Radio Hong Kong, Metro Radio, and other stations.
Workshop sessions
Participants should attend any one session for each workshop.
Session 1 – Cantonese
Date: TBD
Time TBD
(Tutor: Gigi Chi Ying LAM) 		videocam Join
Session 2 – Cantonese
Date: TBD
Time TBD
(Tutor: Lyricist 文探花 （捕風）) 		videocam Join

3

Competition

Phoebus Chan the composer has kindly composed an original melody for CantoPop for Peace. After the tutorials, participants compose Cantonese lyrics for this melody, give it a title, and submit their work to the online submission platform provided.

Four pieces of work with the best written lyrics and peace message will be selected, and their authors awarded a Certificate of Distinction.

Note: Age group 8-11 may write one chorus only.

陳雋騫
Composer
Phoebus Chan

Phoebus Chan, Founder and Executive Director of PA House Asia Ltd.; Vice-Chairman of Hong Kong Innovision; Chairman of Mainland Hong Kong Macau Arts and Culture Youth Alliance; Vice- Chairman of Hong Kong QingDao Association; Chairman of Worldwide Chinese Foundation; Board member of Faith in Love Foundation; Chairman of Haoxue Action; Chairman of Alumni Association of Music Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Columnist of Singtao Daily and Kung Kao Po.

He was awarded the “Secretary for Home Affairs’ Commendation Scheme” in 2020; Silver Award (2019), Bronze Award (2018) for Volunteer Service by the Social Welfare Department; the “10 Most Outstanding Youth Artist Award” in 2005.

While commercially active, Chan has also played a significant role in Hong Kong’s music industry. He was also the lecturer of the Hong Kong College of Technology, Director of the Pop Music Department of Baron School of Music, RTHK Radio 4 and Radio 2 Presenter, Post Producer of Disney Channel Hong Kong. And has worked with numerous globally acclaimed artistes throughout the years including Paul Potts, David Garrett, Huang Meng-Lai, Connie Talbot, Patrizio Buanne, Coco Lee, etc.

  • The piece of music starts off with serenity, accompanied by two notes,representing our dreams and peace.
  • The heartbeat in the second verse signifies the need of a heart to achieve our aspirations
  • The middle part builds up to a climax; likewise we need to strive hard for our dreams. We need to make efforts and have an energetic, positive mindset for our actions and decisions.
  • The ending signifies our aspirations accomplished.

Melody and sheet music © Phoebus Chan. Unauthorized use of these materials outside of CantoPop for Peace is forbidden.

Submit your work

Click “Submit Work” to submit your lyrics

open_in_new play_arrow Melody
download queue_music Music sheet
open_in_new upload Submit work
help How to submit


Submission closed

4

Publication and Winning Work

All submissions are given to a panel of judges for evaluation. The panel selects the team with the best composition as the winning team.

The UNESCO Hong Kong Association Glocal Peace Centre owns the copyright of the lyrics and reserves the right to use the lyrics created by participants even after the programme finishes for non-commercial promotion purpose.

First Place

蔡梓淇 Donald Choi
Award of Excellence

黎浚銘 Vincent Lai
Award of Excellence

黃子恒 Henry Wong
close

1

Visit the upload platform and login using the username and password provided to you.

launch Submission platform

2

Select the programme.

3

After selection you will see the page where you can view the provided content. This can be video, audio or music score.

4

Upload your work using the “Record or upload” button at the bottom.