Within the HKAPA’s School of Music, orchestral training is a significant part of the students’ education. All students of orchestral instruments participate in the Academy Symphony Orchestra, whose weekly rehearsals cover the standard symphonic literature as well as contemporary works. In recent years, the Academy Symphony Orchestra has worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and guest conductors such as Marko Ivanovi (Principal Conductor of the National Theatre Brno Opera), Pietro Mianiti (Principal Conductor of the La Scala Academy), Lio Kuokman, Patrick Furrer, Andrew Mogrelia, Eitan Globerson amongst many others. The orchestra members have toured to Beijing and Shanghai to join professional orchestral concerts and to Jerusalem and Taiwan to give chamber recitals. They also collaborated with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta in their Penderecki project and participated in the Hong Kong Philharmonic’s “Share the Stage’’ events. In November 2017, Maestro Jaap van Zweden, Music Director of Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra visited the Academy and rehearsed Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony with our students and the players from the HK Phil. With the Academy Choir, they performed Bach’s Christmas Oratorio under the direction of Helmut Rilling. The Orchestra has a busy performing schedule every academic year including playing for our annual opera production.

Under the baton of Prof. Sharon Choa, the Orchestra was invited to perform in the Festive Korea 2016 Gala Concert presented by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in October 2016 at the Concert Hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre together with three international Korean violinist Hyuna Kim, violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill and cellist Clara Minhye Kim. In June 2017 the Orchestra joined forces with the Shenzhen Arts School Philharmonic Orchestra to perform in two concerts which were held in Shenzhen and Hong Kong respectively. In October 2017 the Orchestra visited Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA) and gave a performance with the wind and percussion students from TNUA to critical acclaim. In June 2018 “Concerto Feast” was broadcast by RTHK Radio 4, showcasing the talents of the student soloists and the ensemble. In October 2019, the strings of the orchestra joint hands with their counterpart in TNUA and were invited to perform in their Kuandu Arts Festival in Taipei for a second time. 

The Academy Choir of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts consists of students from various music departments, including the Department of Vocal Studies. The Choir holds weekly rehearsals and performs a diverse range of choral repertoire in the Academy's departmental concerts, opera scenes, and fully staged opera productions. The Choir has also collaborated with local and overseas arts organizations. Recent engagements include Bach's Christmas Oratorio directed by Helmut Rilling with SingFest, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 performed alongside the choir of St. Martin-in-the-Fields under the direction of Sir Neville Marriner, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas for RTHK Radio 4, and Mahler's Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection” with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Other major works include Handel's Messiah, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Faure's Requiem, and Beethoven's Choral Fantasy. 

The Academy Concert Band provides a platform for students specialising in woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments to partake in the time-honoured wind band tradition. The ensemble's repertoire boasts a diverse array of musical genres, ranging from classical to contemporary and popular works. The Academy Concert Band has hosted several illustrious guest conductors, including the likes of Paul Archibald, Peter Bassano, James Gourlay, and Colin Touchen. The band has also delivered a memorable performance of Heinrich Hubler's Concerto for Four Horns alongside the Vienna Horn Ensemble. An exceptional highlight was the concert featuring the compositions of Alfred Reed, conducted by the composer himself. An impressive finale to the evening was the Hong Kong premiere of Reed's Trumpet Concerto, performed by the world-renowned Taiwanese trumpeter Yeh Shu-Han. The band has undertaken successful tours, including performances in Guangzhou by invitation from the South China University of Technology and participation in the International Horn Symposium in Denver, Colorado, collaborating with internationally acclaimed horn soloists Frank Lloyd and the American Horn Quartet. 

The School of Music runs an extensive chamber music programme for Western Music students. Chamber music ensembles include both standard and interdisciplinary combinations. Students are assigned to groups or form their own and receive regular coachings from faculty staff. The programme also features residencies and masterclasses given by world renowned artists. Past guests include the Orion String Quartet, Penderecki String Quartet, Miami String Quartet, Borromeo String Quartet, Endellion String Quartet, Shanghai String Quartet, and members of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society as well as Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. 

The school of music’s Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion department offers a comprehensive chamber music curriculum that prioritizes ensemble skills and musicianship. The program encompasses a diverse range of repertoire and encourages interdisciplinary collaborations. Students participate in public concerts, masterclasses, competitions, and festivals, while developing listening, collaboration, and creativity skills. The department provides a rigorous and comprehensive programme that prepares students for a successful career in the music industry. 

The various Chinese Chamber Music Ensembles are led by Ms. Zhang Chongxue. The diversified Chinese instrumental ensembles cultivate students’ musical expressions, interpretative skills, and understanding through practising traditional classic and contemporary chamber repertoires, and attaining a diverse, all-rounded and professional level. Repertoires of the chamber ensembles include masterpieces by renowned composers and commissioned chamber pieces by composers from the Greater Bay Area. The ensembles will hold concerts and exchanges with different universities and professional ensembles. 

There are numerous types of musical genres and ensembles in China. In addition to the Cantonese Ensemble and Jiangnan Silk and Bamboo Ensemble currently provided by the School of Music, students are encouraged to practise in varied instrumental combinations, and to master the understanding of diverse musical styles of different regions. The ensemble holds concerts and conducts academic exchanges with music experts, universities and professional orchestras. 

Vocal ensemble classes allow singers to hone their skills to blend and harmonize ensemble music from operas, oratorios, cantatas, madrigals, chamber music works and many more as one beautiful unanimous sound.  Singers will work on duets, trios, quartets, quintets, octets and even more complex compositions from different style and genre of music.  In addition to piano accompaniment, at times they will perform together with chamber music ensembles, for example, string quartets, wind/brass quintet, etc.  The fine art of performing in harmony with different solo musical lines is being trained and polished. 

The Academy Jazz Ensemble introduces students to the techniques of performing jazz music. The ensemble also heightens the understanding of the difference between jazz and classical music, improvisation, application of jazz rhythms, and the perfoming practice in collaborating with other musicians.