“City Hall Virtuosi” Series: Two Piano Recital by Stephen Wong and Amy Sze
ProgrammeAbout the PerformersTicketing
Mozart (arr. Busoni)
Duettino Concertante, based on the Finale of Piano Concerto in F, K.459
Bolcom
The Garden of Eden (Four Rags for Two Pianos)
Chopin
Rondo in C, Op.73
Copland (arr.Bernstein)
El Salón México
Chaminade
Andante et Scherzettino, Op. 59
Rachmaninov
Fantaisie-tableaux, Suite No.1 for Two Pianos, Op. 5
Bennett
Four Piece Suite (Divertimento for Two Pianos)
The performance will run for about 1 hour 45 minutes, including a 15 minute intermission.
Audience is strongly advised to arrive punctually. Latecomers will only be admitted at a suitable break.
Presenter reserves the right to change the programmes and artists.
Stephen Wong
Born in Hong Kong, Stephen Wong was trained at the Royal College of Music in London, the United Kingdom and received Master of Music at the McGill University in Montreal, Canada. His teachers included Tu Yue-sien, Margaret Lynn, Patricia Carroll, Ruth Gerald and Dale Bartlett. Wong was awarded the Jardine Matheson and McGill music faculty scholarships. He won the McGill Concerto Competition in 1991 and was the finalist in the Hong Kong Gina Bachauer Competition and London Royal Overseas League. Between 1995-1999, he taught piano, chamber music and as vocal coach at McGill music faculty. His trio performed extensively across Canada and made frequent recordings for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Besides, he appeared as a soloist with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal and worked as a repetiteur for L’Opera de Montreal. Wong also performed in the Aspen Music Festival in the United States, the Rome Chamber Music Festival in Italy, and in Asia including the Mainland, Macao, and Taiwan.
Since his return to Hong Kong in 2001, Wong has been active in teaching and performing. Wong is a much sought-after pianist for both solo and ensemble concerts and has collaborated with instrumentalists, vocalists and choirs including pianists Kawai Chan, Josephine Cheung, Amy Sze and Verna Yeung, vocalists Ella Kiang and Nancy Yuen, clarinet player Martin Choy, Learners Chorus and Ella Kiang Singers Chorus. He has also been invited regularly to record for Radio 4, The Radio and Television of Hong Kong. In July 2017, he was invited to perform at Art, Culture and Music at the Airport for three performances co-presented by Extension and Continuing Education for Life (EXCEL) of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) and the Hong Kong International Airport.
Currently he teaches at the music faculty of HKAPA, Hong Kong Baptist University, School of Continuing and Professional Studies of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The Education University of Hong Kong. Wong has also been adjudicating piano examinations, competitions and giving masterclass, including the Hong Kong International Institute of Music, Hong Kong Music Institute, Lambda School of Music and Fine Arts in Montreal, Canada on piano performance and pedagogy. 2017 will mark the 10th year of his successful piano students’ concert “Music and Friends”.
Being a concert artist with vast experiences, he composes and records music for movie soundtrack in A Tale of Three Cities (2015), and participates in theatre acting, dialect coaching and voice-over for movie productions.
Amy Sze
Amy Sze holds the Performer's Certificate, Doctor and Master of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music. Her principal teachers included Nelita True and Gabriel Kwok. Sze started her musical training at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) since the age of 10. She was the recipient of numerous scholarships, including the Avis D. Vaughn Scholarship, Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarship and Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund Overseas Scholarship.
As the winner of many prizes and competitions, Sze appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Texas Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra, Eastman Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Hong Kong Sinfonietta. She also performed in major festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, Cliburn Piano Institute in the United States, Salzburg Mozarteum Academy in Austria and Harbin Summer Music Festival in the Mainland. She frequently makes solo recordings and receives interviews in Radio 4, The Radio and Television of Hong Kong (RTHK). In 2013, she was invited to perform in the Complete Beethoven Piano Concerto Cycle with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, she was also a featured artist on the Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s album This is Classical Music 3, released in 2014. In 2016 summer, she had the privilege of performing the Beethoven Piano Sonatas Marathon in Vienna, two concerts lasting 12 hours, along with celebrated pianists from different parts of the world.
Besides solo performance, Sze has a keen interest in chamber music and an enthusiasm for performing in diverse settings. She was a member of the Eastman Chamber Music Society, which engages in outreach projects and charity concerts in public schools and community centres. Being an active performer of contemporary music, she was a featured artist in the Contemporary Song Festival of the Intimacy of Creativity 2017, “New Generation Concert” presented by RTHK, International Society for Contemporary Music Festival, and Le French May Festival. Sze has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Derek Bermel, David Childs, Peter Cooper, Benedict Cruft, Yoshiyuki Ishikawa, Raphael Severe, and John Williams. In 2015, she started a concert series “Mix It Up” with the renowned Singaporean violinist Min Lee. It aims to bring together music, lifestyle elements such as food and wine, and different art forms.
Sze was a teaching assistant in piano studies, accompaniment and chamber music at the Eastman School of Music. She is currently on the faculty of HKAPA, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University. Apart from lectures and masterclasses, she frequently serves on the jury panel for awards and competitions. She was also on the music advisory committee for HKAPA and St Paul’s Co-educational College, her alma mater.
“City Hall Virtuosi” Series: Two Piano Recital by Stephen Wong and Amy Sze
Tickets available from 25 August at URBTIX outlets, on Internet, by Mobile Ticketing App and Credit Card Telephone Booking.
Half-price tickets available for senior citizens aged 60 and above, people with disabilities and the minder, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients. (Limited tickets for CSSA recipients available on a first-come-first-served basis.)
Group Booking Discount
10% off for each purchase of 4-9 standard tickets; 15% off for 10-19 standard tickets; 20% off for 20 or more standard tickets.
Patrons can enjoy only one of the above discount offers.
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