Musicus Society Launches the Multidisciplinary Project Histoires croisées: France – Hong Kong with a New Album (Dec. 4) and Performances in Hong Kong

Led by renowned cellist Trey Lee, Histoires croisées explores the unique history of the French presence in Hong Kong, featuring Musicus Soloists Hong Kong and members of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in a dynamic blending of Western and Chinese repertoires

Signum Records releases today one of the album’s central selections, a track from the world premiere recording of a newly arranged version of Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite for Western-Chinese Ensemble

Trey Lee (Photo: Katie Graham)

Press Kit, Including Album Liner Notes, Audio, and Photos, Available Here

Musicus Society, an organization dedicated to promoting cross-cultural classical music collaborations internationally, announces details of Histoires croisées: France – Hong Kong, a new album and accompanying performance project that explores the historical and cultural connections that developed between France and Hong Kong from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. 

Developed and curated by Trey Lee, the Hong Kong-born, Berlin-based cellist of international renown, this multidisciplinary endeavor blends music, live storytelling, historical photo exhibitions, and dance. The album Histoires croisées: France – Hong Kong, which releases on Dec. 4 under the British label Signum Records, includes Lee, the elite chamber ensemble Musicus Soloists Hong Kong, and members of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in a dialogue of French and Chinese repertoires, highlighted by the addition of Chinese instruments in Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite (the pagoda-inspired “Laideronnette” movement is now available for public streaming on all digital service providers) and Western string arrangements of period Cantonese tunes.

Altogether, Histoires croisées (“interwoven stories”) reflects how the French have contributed to Hong Kong society, alongside the ways Hong Kong has influenced the French in return. While Hong Kong’s British colonial history is widely acknowledged, Histoires croisées: France – Hong Kong illuminates a lesser-known chapter. The production brings this era to life through a curated musical program built around three specific historical narratives: botanical discovery, charity and devotion, and medical science. The music serves as both a tribute and an emotional counterpoint to these stories.

For Lee, the project is personal. “I was born in St. Paul’s Hospital in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong,” he writes in the album’s liner notes. “However, its Cantonese name translates into the ‘French Hospital,’ which never occurred to me as odd or inconsistent—just one of those givens we grow up with. One day by chance, an explanation was revealed to me: St. Paul’s Hospital was founded by French missionaries, and thus, the Gallic moniker in Cantonese.” 

This information provoked his curiosity, and further investigation by Lee and his sister, Chui-inn Lee (executive producer of the album), led to the tracing of the origin of Hong Kong’s city flower, Bauhinia x blakeana—emblazoned on its flag as a lasting symbol of its identity—to a French missionary in 1880. A third historical thread involves a pivotal moment in medicine: the discovery of the plague pathogen in Hong Kong by Alexandre Yersin of the Pasteur Institute.

“Alongside the tales of these visitors, the history of Hong Kong was unfolding relentlessly. From traditional festivities to societal upheavals, and from solitary figures spinning soulful tunes to the synthesis of global influences with local culture, the city forms a multifaceted setting for this musical narrative,” Lee writes.

Pairing French repertoire with mostly Hong Kong composers, the album begins with Paul Bazelaire’s 20th-century arrangement of Couperin’s Pièces en concert for cello and orchestra. Just as the flower’s selection as an emblem gave new significance to a discovery made generations earlier, Bazelaire reimagined the music of a Baroque master for cello and orchestra.

Inspired by the charity and devotion of St. Paul’s Hospital and its orphanage, Lee has programmed Alfred Wong’s world premiere arrangement of Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite (including the traditional Chinese instruments pipa, zheng, sheng, dizi, and wind gong) with Tam Yat-sing’s arrangements of Abing’s The Moon’s Reflection on the Second Spring with Western strings.  

Hong Kong Cantonese-music composer Chan Man-tat created the turbulent Billowing Waves in 1936, a piece used here to evoke a historical plague outbreak in Hong Kong. In direct counterpoint is the more hopeful “convalescence” by French composer George Onslow (1784–1853), an orchestral arrangement of the third movement of his String Quintet No. 15 in C minor. The album concludes with a vibrant musical tapestry of contemporary Hong Kong, anchored by Wong’s Tango in Temple Street V (2026), before Chan Man-tat’s festive Joyous Celebrations (ca. 1930s) brings the recording to a celebratory close.

This major release is closely tied to launch concerts in Hong Kong and Paris, alongside a concurrent fringe exhibition curated by distinguished academic François Drémeaux. Featuring archival materials, photographs, and historical narratives, the exhibition illuminates the profound cross-cultural presence of the French in Hong Kong, offering local and international audiences an immersive window into the album’s unique story.

The celebration begins with the Hong Kong album launch concert on December 12, 2026. This premiere will take place at the historic Béthanie Theatre in Pokfulam, a 151-year-old landmark built by the Missions Étrangères de Paris that once served as a sanatorium. Famously known as the propagation site of Hong Kong’s iconic Bauhinia x blakeana flower, the venue provides the perfect backdrop for this cross-cultural tribute. The evening will be further elevated by a live dance performance created in partnership with the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

The project then moves to Europe for the Paris album launch concert on December 18, 2026. Taking place at the historic Salle Gaveau with narration by renowned French host and musicologist Pauline Lambert, this performance will bring the entire Franco-Hong Kong musical narrative full circle back to France. By bridging these two vibrant global cities, the final performance serves as a powerful live finale to celebrate the project’s international record release. 

For more information about Trey Lee and upcoming performances, visit www.trey-lee.com.

Histoires croisées: France – Hong Kong
Catalog number: SIGCD1043
Release date: December 4, 2026 
Formats: 1 CD, digital stream, and download 
Total timing: 49:56

Track list: 
Pièces en concert / François Couperin (Arr. for Cello & Strings by Paul Bazelaire)
[1] I. Prélude
[2] II. Sicilienne
[3] III. La Tromba
[4] IV. Plainte
[5] V. Air de Diable

[6] Erquan Yingyue (The Moon’s Reflection on the Second Spring) / Hua Yanjun a.k.a. Abing (Arr. for Cello & Strings by Tam Yat-sing)

Ma mère l’Oye, M. 60 / Maurice Ravel (Arr. for Western-Chinese Ensemble by Alfred Wong)
[7] I. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant
[8] II. Petit Poucet
[9] III. Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes
[10] IV. Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête
[11] V. Le jardin féerique

[12] Billowing Waves / Chan Man-tat (Arr. for Western-Chinese Ensemble by Alfred Wong)
[13] String Quintet No. 15 in C Minor, Op. 38: III. Convalescenza / George Onslow
[14] Tango in Temple Street V / Alfred Wong
[15] Joyous Celebrations / Chan Man-tat (Arr. for Western-Chinese Ensemble by Tam Yat-sing)

Trey Lee, cello
Cellist Trey Lee’s acclaimed 2024 album with the English Chamber Orchestra, Seasons Interrupted, has been hailed by The Strad as “an album with a hauntingly powerful message about our planet”. The release showcases Lee’s versatility, earning praise from BBC Music Magazine for the “exquisite delivery” and “intoxicating intimacy” of his Schubert Lieder adaptations, and his “simply captivating” arrangements of Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.

A celebrated soloist, Lee has been featured by the Financial Times, CNN, Corriere della Sera and Deutsche Welle. Gramophone described him as a “miracle”, while The New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini praised him as “the excellent cellist ... with enveloping richness and lyrical sensitivity” for his Carnegie Hall debut. After conducting him with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the late Lorin Maazel lauded Lee as “a marvellous protagonist ... a superb cellist.”

Highlights of Lee’s 2026–27 season include collaborations with the NDR Radiophilharmonie, Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the China National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, as well as the Mantua and O/Modernt chamber orchestras.

On the international stage, Lee has performed under the baton of such celebrated conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yuri Bashmet, Hannu Lintu, Jia Lu, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Vassily Sinaisky, Leonard Slatkin, Dima Slobodeniouk and Huichang Yan. His extensive orchestral partnerships span the globe, including the BBC, Hong Kong, Netherlands and Radio France philharmonic orchestras; the Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Tapiola Sinfonietta; Camerata Salzburg; Moscow Soloists and Trondheim Soloists; and the chamber orchestras of Munich and Stuttgart.

Lee first gained international prominence by winning First Prize at the International Antonio Janigro Cello Competition, alongside top prizes at Helsinki’s Paulo and New York’s Naumburg competitions. As a UNICEF Hong Kong ambassador, Lee shared the stage with Hugh Jackman and Yoko Ono at the UN General Assembly Hall to launch The IMAGINE Project for children’s rights. This same commitment to cross-cultural collaboration and to nurturing future talent from his birthplace informs his work as founding artistic director of Musicus Fest and Musicus Soloists Hong Kong.

Musicus Soloists Hong Kong 

Established in 2022 under the direction of cellist Trey Lee, Musicus Soloists Hong Kong is a fluid and inventive collective uniting the city’s most outstanding young artists. The ensemble comprises professional musicians from esteemed institutions—including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, and the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra—as well as international competition laureates and distinguished conservatory alumni from across Europe and North America. Performing a diverse repertoire that spans from the Baroque to contemporary masters like Arvo Pärt, the ensemble leverages collaborations between local and international artists to actively nurture the next generation of musical talent.

Since its debut at Musicus Fest 2022, Musicus Soloists Hong Kong has appeared at leading venues including Konzerthaus Berlin, Budapest’s House of Music Hungary, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Paris’s Salle Gaveau and Shenzhen Concert Hall. The ensemble has collaborated with artists such as violinists Florian Donderer and Barnabás Kelemen, pianist Louis Lortie and the Cameristi della Scala.

Signum Records
Signum Records is a leading British record label specializing in classical music. Founded in 1997, Signum has built a catalog approaching 1,000 recordings and will soon surpass 1 billion streams globally while continuing to release more than 40 new titles annually by internationally acclaimed artists. Signum works closely with its sister company, Floating Earth, the leading production and engineering specialist service provider in Europe.