“City Hall Virtuosi” Series: The Hungarian Connections
ProgrammeAbout the PerformersTicketing
Schubert:
Fantasy in F minor, D. 940
Brahms:
Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56
Hungarian Dances for Piano Duets, WoO 1, Nos. 1, 4 – 7
Bartók:
Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion.
The performance will run for about 1 hour and 30 minutes including a 15 minute intermission.
Audience is strongly advised to arrive punctually. Latecomers will only be admitted during the intermission or at a suitable break.
The presenter reserves the right to change the programme and substitute artists.
Piano Duo: Colleen Lee and Warren Lee
Percussion: Choy Lap-tak and Raymond Vong
Colleen Lee (Piano)
Colleen Lee, since winning the 6th Prize of 15th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition, has performed extensively throughout Asia, Europe and North America in solo recitals and with orchestras such as the Galacia Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Spain, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra among others. Born in Hong Kong, Lee started her piano lesson at the age of four. Subsequently she was trained at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under the tutelage of Eleanor Wong. After obtaining the Bachelor of Music, she was awarded scholarship from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund and the Bernard Van Zuiden Scholarship to further her studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Median in Hannover, Germany with Arie Vardi. Lee was the recipient of many international awards, including first prize at the 3rd Seiler International Piano Competition in Kitzingen, Germany, 2003 Dorothy Mackenzie Artist Recognition Award, third place and Critic and Audience Prizes at the 15th International Competition for Piano and Orchestra in Cantù, Italy, prize winner of the 1st Hong Kong International Piano Competition, Pro Musicis International Award, Gina Bachauer International Artist Competition Award in the United States, Sendai International Music Competition Award, and she was laureate of the 16th Santander International Piano Competition in Spain. Her discography includes an all-Chopin album recorded on the Pleyel piano released by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, and an all-Scarlatti sonatas disc released by the Naxos.
Warren Lee (Piano)
Warren Lee's creative artistry has brought him to five continents. He was hailed by The Straits Times, Singapore, as a musician with "a wonderful sense of colour and impeccably controlled articulation", and lauded by critics of his recent recital-presentation at New York's Carnegie Hall in celebration of Leonard Bernstein's Centennial as "ingenious" and "compelling", gracing stages of all sizes and forms and in collaboration with international artists and orchestras in Asia and beyond. Lee made his televised debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of six and was the first-prize winner of the 1995 Stravinsky Awards International Piano Competition and Grand Prix Ivo Pogorelich. A Steinway Artist on the Spirio catalogue, Lee's discography also includes eight acclaimed albums on the Naxos which garnered rave reviews. Off the stage, Lee is an educator and an award-winning composer with over 500 works in print. He received the Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award in Hong Kong in 2012, Associateship from the Royal Academy of Music in 2015 and Ian Mininberg Distinguished Alumni Award by the Yale School of Music in 2017. The American Record Guide calls him a "first-rate artist".
Choy Lap-tak (Percussion)
Choy Lap-tak is currently a tutor in western percussion as well as adviser and coach of the Percussion Ensemble at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). He has been engaged to perform percussion and timpani concertos and appeared in the Sydney Opera House and venues in Beijing, Singapore and South Korea. Choy is a member of the Hong Kong Percussion Ensemble and Jenga Percussion Group, which had been Artist-in-Residence on the Radio 4 of the Radio Television Hong Kong. He has also been a guest timpani player and percussionist with many orchestras – from the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta to the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Moreover, he has performed in several musicals and operas, including Cats, West Side Story, Madama Butterfly, among others. Choy graduated from the HKAPA with distinction and majored in western percussion. He was then awarded the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund in 1995 to further his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in the United Kingdom. Choy was the Hong Kong Consultant in Drum Kit for the graded examinations of the Trinity College London and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He endorses the Zildjian cymbal and latin percussion, as well as the Elite mallets, which has a signature series of timpani mallets developed in his name.
Raymond Vong (Percussion)
Raymond Vong has been the Principal Percussion of the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong since 2013, after obtaining a Bachelor's degree of Music (Honours) and a Master's degree of Music with distinction from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). He has given many percussion solo and ensemble concerts in Hong Kong and Macao, and has been regularly invited to perform with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil), Macao Orchestra as well as North Carolina Symphony in the United States. In 2015, he undertook a European tour with the HK Phil under the baton of Jaap Van Zweden. He formed a percussion duo R/E‧MIX with Emily Cheng in 2010. A devoted performer of contemporary music, Vong has been invited by the University of Hong Kong to participate in a multi-media concert presenting a duo with violinist Yao Jue. He was selected as a "Bravo Macao!" Artist at the 32nd Macao International Music Festival in 2018. Vong serves on the teaching faculty of the HKAPA and he is the Supervisor of Macao Percussion Association. In addition, he has been one of the judges of the Hong Kong Joint School Music Competition in 2018-19.
Information provided by the artists
“City Hall Virtuosi” Series: The Hungarian Connections
Tickets available from 25 Julyat URBTIX outlets, on internet, mobile app and credit card telephone booking.
Half-price tickets available for senior citizens aged 60 or 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).
“City Hall Virtuosi” and “Our Music Talents” Series Package Discount
For each purchase of standard tickets for ‘The Hungarian Connections’, ‘Piano and Pipa Duo Recital by Linda Yim and Zhang Ying’, ‘Viola Recital by Andrew Ling’ and ‘Percussion Recital by Matthew Lau’, the following concession applies:
10% off for any 2 programmes; 15% off for any 3 programmes; 20% off for all 4 programmes.
“City Hall Virtuosi” and “Our Music Talents” Series Group Booking Discount
For each purchase of standard tickets for ‘The Hungarian Connections’, ‘Piano and Pipa Duo Recital by Linda Yim and Zhang Ying’, ‘Viola Recital by Andrew Ling’ and ‘Percussion Recital by Matthew Lau’, the following concession applies:
10% off for 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.
BUY TICKET
