Joseph Koe, a pioneering composer during the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, has died in Vancouver, Canada. He was 91 years old.
Local media reported that his death occurred on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, but did not give the cause of death.
Ko Ka Fei was born in Guangzhou, China on February 23, 1931, and moved with his scholarly and musical family from mainland China to Hong Kong in 1948.
Ko has spent much of his career in Hong Kong’s film, television and pop music industries. And even after he immigrated to Canada in the 1990s, he maintained active links with Hong Kong industry.
When he was young, Ko learned to play the piano and composed songs for his sister Ko Mi, who was a major recording artist in her own right. He later became an instrumentalist and conductor at venues such as the Luk Kwok Hotel in Hong Kong.
His first composition was for “Dream”, a song performed by his sister in the 1961 Shaw Brothers film “Love Without End”. The film and the success of the song caused Hong Kong film tycoon Sir Run Run Shaw to sponsor his formal music training at Berkeley College in Boston, US.
Upon his return to Hong Kong, Koo worked for the Shaw Brothers companies – he was awarded the Golden Horse, China’s most prestigious film award, for his work in the Shaw Brothers 1965 musical comedy “The Dancing Millionairess” – and for the Shaw Golden Rival. crop. There he provided the scores for two of Bruce Lee’s six films “Fist of Fury” and “Way of the Dragon”.
Versatile and prolific, Ko was appointed Musical Director of TVB in 1973, a position he kept until leaving Territory. While there, he produced scores and songs for films including the 1980 hit “Shanghai Bund” and songs for the TV series “The Legend of the Condor Heroes” and “Five Easy Pieces,” which have become all-time classics. He also penned the theme song for the TV series “Under the Lion Rock” which remains the unofficial Hong Kong anthem for many people, and for John Woo’s films “A Better Tomorrow” (1986 and 1987).
More recently, Koo provided songs for Ray Yeung’s 2006 “Cut Sleeve Boys” and Jia Zhangke’s 2017 film “Ash Is Purest White”.
Kuo’s work and career has attracted numerous national and international awards. Ko was awarded an MBE by the British government in 1982. With Hong Kong under Chinese rule from 1997, Ko was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star for the Territory in 1988 and the Golden Bauhinia Star Award in 2015. He has also received the Hong Kong Life Achievement Award Hong Kong Arts Development Awards in 2010, presented by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.
“Joseph Ko’s works are evergreen pieces that have been an important part of Hong Kong people’s lives over the years and have enriched the lives of Chinese people around the world. His spirit and the poignant melodies he created will be passed down from generation to generation,” said Hong Kong Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Fei. Wednesday’s statement “will be remembered fondly.”
[ad_2]
