As a student musician who directs an ensemble, Kenneth Ma shows how to lead and connect different communities through music.
As seven-year-old Kenneth Ma sits poised at the piano, eyes closed, the notes of Mozart’s Sonata No. 11 flow from his fingertips. What future do you picture unfolding? Perhaps the familiar archetype of a piano prodigy in the mould of Lang Lang or Li Yundi. But Kenneth, a pianist, conductor, entrepreneur and alumnus from the Hong Kong 200 leadership programme, would go on to compose a different story.
Bringing Sounds Together
Now a Year 4 student with double majors in Business and Music at the University of Hong Kong, Kenneth was given an opportunity to be a conductor in the university choir. This random assignment made Kenneth realise how much he enjoys bringing musical talents together, even more than just playing the piano.
“Piano is often a very individual activity. If you were a solo pianist, you would always be alone on stage. Conducting is different, and I realise how much I enjoy meeting and working with people,” Kenneth says.
For Kenneth, conducting is putting together a puzzle, seeing the big picture and contemplating where and how each piece fits, ensuring the violin and trumpet harmonise, with attention to the timing, balance and nuance.
“On stage, the conductor is silent, yet communicating precisely with so many. The orchestra can only be unified, reading not only the music, but also my body language.”
Bringing Communities Together
Kenneth has used his musical knowledge and talent to found the Embrace Chorus (昔唱), an initiative designed for the elderly with dementia, also known as Hong Kong’s first choir specially designed for dementia patients. This collaboration with local elderly centres has helped seniors who live with dementia to regain their memories, cognitive ability and sense of community.
The idea behind the Embrace Chorus can be traced back to the Hong Kong 200 project, a youth leadership initiative run by the HKFYG. Kenneth and his teammates, just after graduating from high school in 2021, won the Gold Award in “Project for Hong Kong” with Kei Lok Kin (耆樂鍵), which centred on the kalimba, a small finger piano, designed to collect information and data on elderly people’s cognitive responses as they played it.
Although the idea never materialised due to budget constraints, the idea to connect music with elderly care had taken root. Kenneth is grateful for the training, community engagement and experiential learning experiences.
From organised community exploration activities in Fanling, a town far from Hong Kong’s urban area, to designing an innovation project with his peers, Kenneth came to realise the connection between local communities and social issues that he had not encountered before.
“The activity made us slow down and observe. We would ask: ‘Why is the wet market arranged in this way?’ ‘Why are there so many playgrounds?’ ‘Why are the facilities designed for elderly people?’ I began to notice details about the community that I had previously overlooked,” Kenneth says.
The impact of the Hong Kong 200 programme was the connection Kenneth made and the space given to reflect on the many ways young people could serve, connect and contribute, which eventually led to the development of Embrace Chorus.
Having observed a lack of willingness to move or communicate and increased screen time among the elderly, his team came up with the idea of designing interactive music-learning sessions to help reactivate their brain associated with memory, motivation and social interaction.
To make the teaching of music and singing clear and direct, Kenneth broke down the musical ideas into simple forms connected to everyday experiences to which the elderly could relate.
Communities do not have to stay in “separate circles.”
In demonstrating exactly how he did this, Kenneth explains how he taught the elderly to memorise the solfege of Do, Re, Mi. He asked them to associate the sounds with the Cantonese pronunciation of a familiar pastry, 牛角酥 (ngau4 gok3 sou1). By connecting musical knowledge to familiar objects in their daily lives, Kenneth’s teaching method helped build confidence among the participants who were new to choral singing.
Through months of lessons and practice, Kenneth was thrilled to see how the senior participants not only acquired new musical skills, but also got to know their neighbours better.
To Kenneth, people with dementia are those who have removed the “social mask” placed on them by society. “Being with them sometimes feels like interacting with very experienced children,” he says. “They are innocent and genuine. At the same time, they have rich life experiences. When I spend time with them, I learn a lot because they interact with me without defences or barriers,” Kenneth says.
Through the Embrace Chorus, an ongoing project at four local elderly centres every Saturday, Kenneth hopes to challenge the stereotype that people living with dementia are “blank” or “unresponsive”. He wants to raise awareness that social inclusion is not simply about helping vulnerable groups catch up, but also to create the right channels for them to showcase their talents and share their stories.
As Kenneth says, communities do not have to stay in “separate circles.” They can move closer together through shared experiences, which he hopes will blur boundaries between communities.
If conducting is about bringing different musical instruments together while allowing them to remain different, the Embrace Chorus does the same: with children, the elderly and others from different backgrounds, all to co-create harmonious and meaningful experiences with a common purpose.
“Que Sera, Sera”
While Kenneth hopes to expand and continue the Embrace Chorus, he plans to continue studying conducting abroad without a clear sense of what’s next.
For Kenneth, life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re gonna get. It is not a contract with a fixed return, nor a planned tour with every step clearly instructed. Sometimes, the return comes unexpectedly in the people one meets, the conversations one remembers, the communities one comes to understand, and the new directions that appear only after taking the first few steps.
He hopes young people can lower the pressure they place on themselves to find the “right” path immediately. Kenneth’s message is simple: treasure every relationship and do not be afraid to begin before everything feels certain.
In a world where efficiency and productivity speak volumes, music and conducting have taught Kenneth the value of slowly becoming, as music never arrives at a final endpoint. The most meaningful things, he suggests, take time. Like music, connections, trust and community, impact can take time. Life does not need to rush toward a final note; there is value in listening, adjusting and allowing the melody to simply develop and unfold.
Or, as Kenneth sings, “Que Sera, Sera: whatever will be, will be.” This does not mean waiting passively, but walking forward with faith and openness, lowering rigid expectations and believing that each sincere attempt may one day become part of a larger, more meaningful story. ■
Kenneth Ma, now a Year 4 student at the University of Hong Kong, is a pianist, conductor, and founder of the Embrace Chorus (昔唱). He is also an alumnus of the Federation’s Hong Kong 200 leadership programme.