Hoy, William Kwok Fong

William Kwok Fong Hoy 許國光 (Billy) was born in Toronto, ON and sent to Hong Kong for education at 3 years old. When Japanese seized HK during WWII, he relocated to Canton (Guangzhou) and his ancestral land of Xinhui (Sunwui) County in Guangdong and later returned to Toronto in 1949. During his time in China, he developed interest in music and learned to plan saxophone in high school. The local Xiao shao Music Club 簫韶音樂社 founded by a group of musicians from San Francisco was located right across the street from the restaurant where he worked as kitchen apprentice, and he was able to learn traditional Chinese instruments every night after work. In 1953, he found a job in Parry Sound, ON, a small town 250 km away from Toronto. He developed a passion for violin in the same year, so strong that he traveled to Toronto once a month on his day off to collect music records of Yin Zizhong (Wan Chi-Chung 尹自重), a master musician who introduced Western instrument into Cantonese Opera. He bought an expensive violin, practiced day and night, eventually mastered the instruments and was highly praised by Yin when the latter toured Toronto and heard Hoy play. In the early 1960s, Hoy and a few friends founded Yet Hoy Cantonese Music Club together. He was elected music director of Yet Hoy in 1965, by which time he had already mastered all instruments used in Cantonese Opera, so versatile that he could lead the ensemble of not only amateur enthusiasts but professional Cantonese Opera troupes visiting from Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

Hoy’s stays in Toronto were often restricted by his job with the Parry Sound restaurant; he appeared much less at Toronto Cantonese Opera events in later years. On March 6, 2013, Billy Hoy peacefully passed away at Toronto General Hospital.

Li, P Stephen K. 1987. “Cantonese Opera in Toronto.” ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
“Mr William Kwok Fong Hoy.” Legacy.com, March 7, 2013. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/william-hoy-obituary?id=30234255.