Joseph Koo Dead: Hong Kong Music Composer Was 91

Joseph Koo, a foremost tunes composer during Hong Kong cinema’s golden era, has died in Vancouver, Canada. He was 91.

Local media report his dying as going on on Tuesday Jan. 3, 2023, but do not condition a cause of loss of life.

Born in Guangzhou, China on Feb. 23, 1931, Koo Ka-fai moved with his scholarly and musical loved ones from mainland China to Hong Kong in 1948.

Koo expended a lot of his occupation in the Hong Kong movie, Tv and pop audio industries. And, even just after he emigrated to Canada in the 1990s, he managed energetic hyperlinks with the Hong Kong sector.

As a youngster, Koo figured out the piano and composed tunes for his sister Koo Mei, who was a big recording artist in her individual suitable. Afterwards he became a performer and band leader executing at venues such as the Luk Kwok Lodge in Hong Kong.

His initial composition for a film was “Dream,” a music carried out by his sister in the 1961 Shaw Brothers film “Love Without the need of Finish.” The movie and the song’s achievement induced Hong Kong film mogul Sir Run Operate Shaw to sponsor his official musical education at Berklee University in Boston, U.S.

On his return to Hong Kong, Koo worked for the Shaw Brothers organizations — he received a Golden Horse Award, Chinese language cinema’s most prestigious awards, for his work on The Shaw Brothers 1965 musical comedy “The Dancing Millionairess” — and for Shaw’s rival Golden Harvest. There he supplied scores for two of the 6 Bruce Lee films “Fist of Fury” and “Way of the Dragon.”

Multipurpose and prolific, Koo was appointed TVB’s musical director in 1973, a submit he retained until finally his departure from the territory. Although there, he produced scores and concept tracks for movies such as 1980’s “Shanghai Bund” and the theme tunes of the Television collection “The Legend of the Condor Heroes” and “Five Simple Parts,” which became all-time classics. He also penned the concept track for Tv sequence “Below the Lion Rock” which stays Hong Kong’s unofficial anthem for a lot of persons, and for John Woo’s two “A Much better Tomorrow” movies (1986 and 1987).

A lot more lately, Koo presented tracks for Ray Yeung’s 2006 “Cut Sleeve Boys” and Jia Zhangke’s 2017 movie “Ash Is Purest White.”

Koo’s operate and vocation attracted quite a few countrywide and worldwide awards. Koo gained MBE from the British govt in 1982. With Hong Kong less than Chinese rule from 1997, Koo acquired the territory’s Bronze Bauhinia Star award in 1988 and a Gold Bauhinia Star in 2015. He also been given the Life Achievement Award at the Hong Kong Arts Progress Awards in 2010, presented by the Hong Kong Arts Advancement Council.

“Joseph Koo’s is effective are evergreen pieces that have been a considerable part of Hong Kong people’s lives around the a long time and have enriched the lives of Chinese men and women all around the environment. His spirit and the memorable touching melodies he made will be passed down from a single era to the future. We shall fondly don’t forget him,” reported Hong Kong’s Secretary for Culture, Athletics and Tourism Kevin Yeung, in a statement on Wednesday.