Joseph Koo

Joseph Koo
Chinese name 顧嘉煇
Chinese name 顧嘉煇 (traditional)
Chinese name 顾嘉辉 (simplified)
Pinyin gu4 jia1 hui1 (Mandarin)
Jyutping gu3 gaa1 fai1 (Cantonese)
Birth name Gu Gaa-fai (顧嘉煇)
Ancestry Guangdong
Origin Hong Kong
Born (1933-01-01) January 1, 1933
Guangzhou, China
Other name(s) Moran (莫然)
gu gaa-fai (顧家輝)
Occupation Composer, Arranger, Musical Director, Conductor, very occasional lyricist
Genre(s) Mandopop, jingles, Children's song (early career)
Cantopop, Hong Kong musical tongue twister
Instrument(s) Piano, Xylophone
Label(s) None
Years active 1962-2015

Joseph Koo Kar-Fai, GBS (born January 1, 1933 in Guangzhou, China) is one of the most respected composers[1] in Hong Kong. He used the pen name Moran (莫然) for Mandarin songs early in his career. He has two siblings: an older sister, the famous Chinese singer/painter Koo Mei (顧媚), and a younger brother, Koo Kar-Tseung (顧嘉鏘).[2]

Career

Koo was sponsored by Sir Run Run Shaw to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston in the early 60s. Upon graduation he returned to Hong Kong and worked for both the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest movie studios. Later he joined TVB as their director of music, where from the late 1970s until immigrating to Canada in the 1990s, he collaborated with the lyricist Wong Jim on many memorable TV theme songs. Koo has composed over 1,200 songs in his career, many of his songs are now considered as classic Cantopop. He only has 2 notable works as a lyrcist, but they are both very short in length and toal number of words. One was a children's song about the ten numbers, the other was the ending 'Goodnight' jingle for Enjoy Yourself Tonight.

In 1961, he composed his first hit (Mandarin Chinese) song 夢 ( meng means "dream"), which was sung by his sister Koo Mei and later another hit song 郊道. In 1974, he wrote the first Cantonese TV theme song (啼笑姻緣) which was the actual first popular Cantopop song.

Koo received Member of Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1982. In 1998, he received the Bronze Bauhinia Star from the Hong Kong Government. He also received other awards including Music Accomplishment Award (from Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Ltd.), Highest Honour Award (from RTHK Ten Best Chinese Music Program), Best Music Award and Best Lyric Award (from Asia Film Festival), Hong Kong Film Awards, Taiwan's Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards and many others.

In 2012 from November 30 to December 3, he held a concert titled "Joseph Koo Concert 2012" at the Hong Kong Coliseum, which featured many singers including Adam Cheng, George Lam, Teresa Cheung, and Anthony Wong.[3]

In more recent years he has spent much of his time in Vancouver, Canada where he had emigrated. In 2015, he announced his retirement as a conductor, and he would significantly reduce his musical works, and move into become an oil painter like his sister.

Important works in melody

References

  1. ↑ "Joseph Koo". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ "顧嘉煇姐弟畫展望籌百萬 (Joseph Koo and his siblings exhibit paintings for profits) at the Wayback Machine (archived December 6, 2008)." WenWeiPo.com 31 October 2006. 23 May 2012. Archived from the original.
  3. ↑ "Oriental Watch Company Exclusively Presents《Joseph Koo Concert 2012》Press Concerence". Retrieved 21 April 2013.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
nil		 Golden Needle Award of RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award
1981 		Succeeded by
Nonoy Ocampo 奧金寶
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