Audition with a difference
HONG KONG student Peter Wong King-hang recently became the first Asian student to audition for a music scholarship offered by the University of Warwick.
That is not the only way Peter managed to make history: his audition was done via video-conferencing in a studio at the Hongkong Telecom office in Central - another first.
Peter, who is finishing his last year at Li Po Chun United World College, played the flute in front of two professors and was congratulated for his fine half-hour performance.
'This hasn't been done by the university before. Music auditions are normally held at the university. It was done this way because of the huge expense of travelling, and Peter could save himself from the stress of travelling to the UK,' said Pamela Wood, the university's Hong Kong and China office administrator.
'The technology is here. Before, it was not cost-effective,' she said.
Peter, 19, was the only Hong Kong applicant and was chosen from at least eight other Asian competitors for the audition.
The scholarship, for recreation music purposes, is competitive because of the reputation of the university's Music Centre and its orchestra which travels and performs in Europe.
During the audition, Peter played two of his own selections, pieces from Mozart and Handel. Then Colin Touchin, director of music at Warwick, and Professor Keith Bowen, who teaches engineering, requested him to play excerpts from Brahm and Schubert.
During the process, Peter received instructions and answered questions from the two professors.
When asked about his favourite kind of music, Peter answered: 'Baroque, rock, heavy metal and blues'.
Although the university had yet to make a scholarship offer, Peter is feeling optimistic about his chances.
Professor Touchin told Young Post that students from Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong were forming a very important part of the student population at Warwick.
Video-conferencing is mostly used by businesses, but it is starting to gain popularity among universities.
