Perth, Australia – He was no “street youth.” No punk rocker. No “hard living” rogue who pushed the limits. No product of a broken home.

Daniel Hall was an elite young classical musician, the only son of a prominent Perth family, and a fourth-year architecture student. His death from an apparent drug overdose, just three days after he arrived in Hong Kong for a concert tour with the Western Australian Youth Orchestra, has devastated his friends, family, and the local classical music community.

Hall, 21, was one of 75 young musicians due to perform at two concerts in Hong Kong. But the oboe player was found unconscious in his hotel room in the early hours of Saturday morning (Dec. 18). He was pronounced dead a short time later.

Another member of the orchestra, trombonist Evan Williams, also 21, was with him and was rushed to hospital, also suffering a suspected drug overdose. He was in a serious but stable condition on Tuesday.

Hong Kong police are investigating. The families of both men have flown to Hong Kong.

Ironically, a major sponsor of WA Youth Orchestra is the government’s “Smarter than Smoking” campaign, which promotes healthy choices as a mandate from Healthway, its relevant government agency. Orchestra Executive Director Ben Burgess said the government had sponsored the orchestra for "15 to 20 years (and) we'll properly brief (Healthway) when we get back. They may have some issues to discuss with us.”

He described the orchestra's anti-smoking work as a "core part" of its activity.

Speaking from Hong Kong, Burgess would not confirm details of the incident for fear of compromising a police investigation. However, he conceded that "a couple of our members" may have breached the orchestra's strict health conduct policy.

Burgess said the tour was highly supervised, and he was shocked by what occurred. He said seven chaperones, as well as medical staff and local support staff, were accompanying the group on the two-week tour.

The youngest members, aged 17, were sent home on Saturday. The rest of the group will leave within days. The concerts have been cancelled.

Burgess said Hall was "extraordinarily" talented, and more than 1000 messages of condolences had come in from musicians, friends and music lovers. "The oboe requires a lot of discipline. He was so committed. He was actually an architecture major as well, at the University of Western Australia.”

"He was just very, very well loved. He was lively, but he was also very polite and respectful.”

The West Australian Youth Orchestra, one of Australia’s finest classical music ensembles, was doing a series of concerts in Singapore and Hong Kong between December 10 and 23.

Hall and Williams were discovered unconscious inside their room by a worker at the Kimberley Hotel.  The two musicians were rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon, where Hall was pronounced DOA. Police said there were no external injuries to either man, and there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.

Police said an autopsy was being conducted in Hong Kong before Hall’s body could be returned to Perth.

"We are all devastated. It's an orchestra of 75 musicians, and they all have been together,'' Burgess said. "Some have been involved for the past 10-15 years. We've done a lot of concerts together and are considered to be one of the best youth orchestras in the world, so for something like this to happen is overwhelming.

According to Burgess, “The two guys have been with the orchestra since they were young and have been involved for the past seven or eight years. I knew both of them and their families very well. It's a massive shock for everyone."

Burgess said the orchestra had earlier finished some “intensive rehearsing” and had a “relaxing evening on a boat cruise.” Alcohol was taken on the cruise, but Burgess stressed that this was minimal.

The last that was seen of the Hall and Williams was around 10:30 p.m. when all of the orchestra returned to their hotel rooms.

“These two were very friendly and talented,” Burgess said. ``Daniel initially took up the piano, but changed and stuck to the oboe after primary school … Perth is a very small place, especially musically. It's an isolated city where everyone knows each other – it's like a big country town. This tragedy will hit everyone hard. It's a very difficult time."

Yesterday, Hall's grief-stricken friends posted heartfelt messages on social networking sites, reflecting their disbelief and dismay at his death.

``Cannot believe it. You will be missed so much,'' wrote Bridget Malcolm on Facebook.

In another post, Katherine Rickards said: ``R.I.P Daniel. I love you more than you could know, and I'll always remember you getting naked and swimming in my pool at my 18th. My thoughts are with everyone''.

Burgess said Williams was unlikely to suffer any short or long-term complications, and would likely return home to Perth "within a week … He was in a coma for a couple of days … He’s a very lucky young man.”

(Compiled from media reports; A-DES will follow this story as new information becomes available.)