This artographic research project reflects experiences from a meeting between Hong Kong and Norwegian choral culture. Through interaction with young singers from both primary and secondary schools, through performing with my own instrument the Defrost Youth Choir and through teaching and lecturing, I have been given a unique opportunity to cast a reflective light on both Hong Kong and Norwegian practices. This encounter has unveiled interesting differences in pedagogy, methodology and general didactics; but also on choral ideology and performing practices. What seems to be in figure for a Hong Kong school choir teacher, may not at all be in figure for a Norwegian choir teacher. This is what really puts my own practice theory as a choir leadership educator under the microscope – assessing what actually works regardless of culture.
In order to follow up on my last visit to Hong Kong and Hong Kong Inter-School Choral Festival (HKICF), it was natural to look at different possibilities to a sustainable interaction between Norwegian/Scandinavian and Hong Kong choral culture. The Mentor Program "School Choir Advancement Program" was established. It is a natural extension of the "School Choir Incubator Program" that has been running for several years already. After I was appointed Artistic Advisor for HKICF (Hong Kong Inter-School Choral Festival), it was my idea to provide an opportunity for those who had already been in the festival's incubator program, to be able to take their personal development as a leader/conductor of school choirs further, under guided guidance. Therefore, together - on behalf of both WCCN (World Choral Conducting Network) and as a part of my R & D work at the University of Innand , Norway and HKICF, we developed this program, which is built on the same model I developed for Norwegian choral conductors, and which I have used for about 15 years.