Is local conducting prodigy Perry So ready to lead the HKPO? Mark Tjhung asks the man himself

Kodály has just finished reverberating around Tsuen Wan Town Hall, and while an extra conscientious horn player practices arpeggios on the empty stage, in front of it Perry So poses with a baton, offering alternative positions for the conductor’s weapon of choice. “Anything long and straight is phallic, right?” jokes the 27-year-old, in a manner far more jovial than crude.

As the flash gun fires in front of him, the assistant conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic chats and laughs in a relaxed manner not always associated with the world of classical music. But then again, So is not your typical conductor. He’s the oh-so-young Hong Kong-born talent that has risen prodigiously into the public consciousness in the year-and-a-half that he has been with the orchestra.
Of course, that he is so young has become something of a cliché during his term as assistant conductor. But it’s an issue that has come to the fore in recent weeks with the news that the HKPO’s artistic director and chief conductor, Maestro Edo de Waart, will step down from the position in 2012. Unavoidably, the question murmuring around classical circles has been whether So is the man to step into
his shoes.

“I’ve never had to answer this question,” he laughs, suggesting a sense of dread at facing up to the inevitable enquiry. “I really like this orchestra. I think we’ve built up a warm relationship and regardless of what happens, I think we’ll always be working together. But whether the musical directorship is the right thing for me at the age of 30 is not necessarily for me to decide,” he says.

“If we feel by that point that I’m ready, it would be a great honour. But if that’s not the right thing, maybe this will come my way at a later point in life,” he says, pausing before bursting into laughter, perhaps a sign of relief at having successfully navigated the question’s minefield.
While the shoes of the Dutch maestro, in the position since 2004, are undoubtedly sizeable, the prospect of stepping into them is hardly daunting for So. “[Being artistic director of an orchestra] is what I’m working towards. If I were daunted by it, I would probably be a fool to be doing what I’m doing,” he insists, before reeling off the list of Philharmonics (Berlin, Vienna and New York) on his future radar. “I hope I’ll get there in about ten years. The point now is to get there.”

These aspirations have no doubt been reinforced by his recent experience with another of the world’s greatest ensembles, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. It is an ensemble presently fronted by 29-year-old conducting prodigy and classical music star Gustavo Dudamel, and one which has a record of actively nurturing young musical talent. “They go around the world watching young conductors. They’re both an arts institution and a talent scout,” says So. On the back of the LA Phil’s vision, the Dudamel Conducting Fellowship was born, and So, having previously been acquainted with the orchestra’s former music director, Esa-Pekka Salonen, was one of its inaugural recipients. “I was blown away by the opportunity,” says So, who, in his six-week-long LA stay earlier this year, led the orchestra in four concerts, and received wise words from esteemed veterans of the music world. “The best piece of advice I got was from Lorin Maazel. He said, ‘If you’re going to have a major career, the thing you need above all else is staying power.”

Since returning to Hong Kong in mid-February, his stamina has quickly been tested, encountering his busiest patch in his stint at the HKPO. But after no less than seven concerts during March, So looks far from worn out. Rather, he’s exuberant, chatty, and utterly full of life. Perhaps it’s a stallion-esque staying power. Or perhaps it’s the prospect of Prokofiev. “Prokofiev is near and dear to me. I got my first break with the [International Prokofiev Conducting Competition],” he says of the Russian conductor.

Peter and the Wolf is next on his agenda this fortnight, collaborating with Magic Mime Circle Co in a concert that taps into both his love of the Russian composer and his role as director of education and community programs. “I’m always trying to recapture that feeling of when I was ten or 11, when music really hit me in the gut. What I’m trying to do is plant the seed in kids.”

And, perhaps, give the kids someone to look up to. “Hopefully just by being here and showing that it’s not impossible for a home-grown boy to do this will make people think.” And, we would add, be inspired.

Perry So conducts Peter and the Wolf on April 2 and 3. Tickets: www.urbtix.hk; 2734 9009