Michael Lee wrote:

>Samuel Wong Appointed New Music Director of the Hong Kong
>Philharmonic Orchestra for 2000/2001 Season:

My sympathies go out to the people of Hong Kong!  Mr. Wong is a conductor
in need of a lot of growth.  His directorship in HK will be like the one
in Honolulu...One of his learning the repertory and how to conduct it.

His tenure in Honolulu has been marked with poor hiring decisions; a
poor ear for balances; and tendency to crudity in his interpretations.
Relations between him and the orchestra have also strained due to him not
keeping promises of committment to the Honolulu community.  One of the
promises he had made was to make Honolulu his base of operations.  To this
day New York has been his home, esp.  since his wife is a member of he NY
Philharmonic.  If you expect to see him and his wife in a public relations
role for the orchestra, forget it.

Some of the problems aren't his fault of course.  He inherited a orchestra
that was demoralized due to a long term strike/ lockout that saw many key
players leave for greener pastures.  However, his predecessor Donald
Johanos arrived to a mediocre group in the late 70's and built it up into
a creditable band.  This is something that Wong has failed to do in his
few seasons here in Honolulu.

His late professional start and lack of experience probably have alot to
do with his problems, so for the sake of both our cities, I hope he grows
up and fast!

Aloha and Mahalo,

Eric Nagamine