Soundtrack of Our Lives: Joseph Koo x James Wong x the Rise of Cantopop

An immersive exploration of the three-decade songwriting partnership of Joseph Koo and James Wong, Soundtrack of Our Lives is a deep dive in a musical world spanning stage and screen, unravelling thickets of melodic inspiration colliding with the twists and turns of a tonal language.

Focusing on eight of their iconic songs, visitors will come face to face with the tug-of-war between Western musical invention and the contours of Cantonese through a range of evolving technologies, recalling the eras when Hong Kong first laid its local roots while branching into truly international reach.

As the city grew, so did the various media in our daily lives, affecting both how artists created music and the ways listeners consumed it. From their early days writing commercial jingles to their meteoric rise in the pop charts—when the lyrical potential of Cantonese became fully apparent, and when an upright piano gave way to state-of-the-art synthesizers—Koo and Wong spun an urban soundworld of limitless possibilities. Through their musical scores, written comments and recorded tributes, we witness points on their creative path bearing testament to a key time and place in Hong Kong’s history.

Together with the Club, Tai Kwun aspires to contribute to a culturally vibrant Hong Kong, amplifying the city’s role as a thriving arts and cultural hub in the region and the global arena.