Ying E Chi: The musical score by John Huie is both haunting and beautiful. Can you comment on it and how do you work with Mr. Huie?

Evans Chan: I didn't work with John Huie directly and this is not an original score. I just stumbled upon his CD, The Honourable Retreat (1997),* at the HMV in Central (Hong Kong) one day and I decided that some tracks would make a wonderful soundtrack for Wu. Interestingly enough, Huie's music - a hybrid of electronica, folk, jazz, Chinese and Celtic instruments etc. -- was, just as The Story of Wu Zhong Xian (the stage play) -- originally presented at the Hong Kong Arts Centre as part of the program marking the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong. Another coincidence is the fact that John is an Australian composer who has emigrated to Hong Kong, which parallels the final trajectory of Wu's life -- he returned to Hong Kong after emigrating to Australia. I hope John's beautiful music will also serve as a fitting requiem as well as a tribute to the life and times of Wu Zhong Xian.

-- from the Ying E Chi interview

John Huie (Composer) burst onto the Australian music scene by working on commissions from the Australia Opera and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, his alma mater. Among his film scores for Film Australia is the soundtrack for Susan Baker's Oscar-winning documentary Leisure (1981). Since moving to Hong Kong in 1992, he has composed extensively for commercials, and has worked on choral music for children. He was the film composer for Golden Harvest's The Fight Back to School (I & II) and many TVB Pearl documentaries. His theatre credits include Chung Ying Theatre's Dragon Island. His music for The Life & Times of Wu Zhong Xian was taken from The Honourable Retreat, a work first presented as part of the "1997 Handover Concert Series," at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, where Wu Zhong Xian (originally titled The Story of Ng Chung Yin), the play, received its world premiere two weeks prior to the Sino-British Handover of Hong Kong on July 1, 1997.

* A Creative Music recording. Address: 15/F Mirage Tower, 13-15 Thompson Road, Wan Chai. Tel: 852/ 2827 5219; Fax: 852/ 2529 8618; Email: jzh@netvigator.com)