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Renowned composer and conductor Tan Dun will be joined by musicians of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, members of The Orchestra Academy Hong Kong as well as guest musicians, in two concerts on the theme of Dunhuang culture. This concert also echoes“The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Dunhuang: Enchanting Tales for Millennium” exhibition to be held from 24 August to 21 November this year at Hong Kong Heritage Museum. Tan once said, 'According to my understanding, Fire can ward off epidemics and bring prosperity like fireworks in everyday living.’ It is good reason that the concert opens with Fireworks by Igor Stravinsky, dubbed "the father of modern symphony". It will be followed by Tan's TheFive Muses of Dunhuang. Tan drew his inspiration for the piece from five ancient Chinese instruments as portrayed in Dunhuang murals, and to highlight this, the solo parts will be brilliantly played by local Chinese music virtuosi. The second half of the programme adopts Birds as the theme. Birds representing auspicious beliefs are featured in Dunhuang murals among other mythical creatures to depict the Buddhist realm. With the application of mobile device and data network, Tan amuses the audiences with his work Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds which brings them an innovative and interactive experience. Finally, the performance of Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite (1919 version) concludes the concert on a high note.
Stravinsky
Fireworks
Tan Dun
The Five Muses of Dunhuang (Hong Kong Premiere)
Tan Dun
Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds
Stravinsky
The Firebird Suite (1919 Version)
The performance will run for about 1 hour 45 minutes including a 20-minute intermission.
Audience is strongly advised to arrive punctually. Latecomers will only be admitted during the intermission or at a suitable break.
The Programme does not represent the views of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
The presenter reserves the right to change the programme and substitute artists.
Music Director / Conductor: Tan Dun
Shakuhachi (Chiba): Kenneth Shum
Bili / Suona: Ling Kwan-leung
Sheng / Lusheng: Loo Sze-wang
Xiqin / Zhonghu: Zhao Guanjie
Five-string Pipa: Gao Sijia
Tan Dun (Music Director / Conductor)
The world-renowned artist and UNESCO Global Goodwill Ambassador Tan Dun has made an indelible mark on the world’s music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical music, multimedia performance, and Eastern and Western tradition. He is the winner of today’s most prestigious honours, including the Grammy Award, the Academy Awards (Oscar), Grawemeyer Award and Shostakovich Award; the Bach Prize in Germany; and, most recently, Italy’s Golden Lion Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement. Tan’s music has been played throughout the world by leading orchestras, opera houses, international festivals, and on radio and television. He was recently named Dean of the Bard College Conservatory of Music.
As a conductor of innovative programmes around the world, he has led the Mainland tours of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Japan’s NHK Symphony. His current season includes leading L’Orchestre National de Lyon in a six-city tour; a four-city tour of Switzerland and Belgium with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra; and engagements with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, where he was recently named Artistic Ambassador. Next season, highlight include conducting the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He also serves as the Honorary Artistic Director of the China National Symphony Orchestra.
Tan records for Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Opus Arte, BIS, and Naxos. In 2016, Tan conducted the grand opening celebration of Disneyland Shanghai which was broadcast to a record-breaking audience worldwide. Most recently, his work Prayer and Blessing was also live streamed using 5G technology and subsequently broadcast worldwide by UNESCO. His recordings have garnered many accolades, including a Grammy Award for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and nomination for The First Emperor, Marco Polo and Pipa Concerto, Japan’s Recording Academy Award for Best Contemporary Music CD for Water Passion after St. Matthew, and the BBC’s Best Orchestral Album for Death and Fire.
Kenneth Sham (Shakuhachi (Chiba))
Kenneth Sham graduated from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts majoring in Dizi. He has also studied Dongxiao under the tutelage of principal Dizi of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Sun Yongzhi and acclaimed local Dongxiao player Tam Bo-shek, as well as Shakuhachi under Japanese master player Teruhisa Fukuda. Sham had achieved multiple scholarships and received tutoring from many distinguished professionals. He is also an active participant in multiple ensembles. Currently part of the Hong Kong Music Office Instructor's Ensemble, the Hua Xia Chinese Music Association and the Bauhinia Chinese Orchestra, and previously a member of the Academy of Performing Arts' Chinese Orchestra as well as principal Dizi of the Hong Kong Youth Chinese Orchestra.
Sham excels not just in playing Dizi, he is an avid collaborator with various composers and ensembles and has premiered many Dizi and Dongxiao pieces. He has participated in both local experimental and overseas music projects, and has performed with many professional ensembles such as the China National Traditional Orchestra and the Taipei Chinese Orchestra. Other than participating in many documentaries, movies, musicals, dramas, and recordings of pop songs, Shum has also performed all over Europe and Asia with many different local art troupes, include Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Repertory Theatre and Hong Kong Sinfonietta, to name a few.
Ling Kwan-leung (Bili / Suona)
A composer and Suona performer born and raised in Hong Kong, Ling attended the Junior Music Programme at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with a major in Suona. Ling holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Composition from California Institute of the Arts and Master of Music in Composition from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). He is also currently completing his Doctor of Music Arts at the UMKC with a full scholarship.
Collaboration with local and overseas music parties is one of the most important portion in his artistic journey. Ling worked with Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, SPLICE Ensemble, Trio Mythos, Duo Entre-Nous and UMKC Graduate Fellowship String Quartet before. He has also been collaborating with artists in other art form, include a documentary film 24 with Filipino/Singaporian filmmaker Brian Yulo Ng, which has been nominated and screened in 17 film festivals from 2019 to 2022. Ling’s Suona and fixed media piece Midden has been selected in the New York City New Electroacoustic Music Festival 2022. In 2022, Ling has commissioned ten composers to compose new pieces for Suona and western instruments, and held a week-long event about the evolution and use of modern Suona with his former tutor Guo Yazhi.
Loo Sze-wang (Sheng / Lusheng)
A graduate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, prize-winning Loo Sze-wang is the foremost Sheng (Chinese mouth-organ) player of his generation in Hong Kong. He has been active both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, and has performed with different performing groups, including the Song Company of Australia, Xenia Ensemble of Italy, St. Lawrence String Quartet of the States, POING of Norway, Het Collectif of Brussels, Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Macao Orchestra. He has performed at the Garden Festival in Warsaw, Poland, the Melbourne Festival in Australia, Singapore Arts Festival, Buenos Aires International Music Festival in Argentina, New Vision Arts Festival, and the Chinese Composers’ Festival etc. His performances span various places include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, United States, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, Singapore, Korea and the Mainland.
Loo’s performances included participating in the Opera The Heart of Coral by Chan Hing-yan at Hong Kong Week 2014 @ Taipei, Music Theatre When Petals Fall in Serenity by Law Wing-fai, the Anatomy of Musician project by Samson Young Kar-fai in Paris, as well as the “Regional Music of China Series: Virtuosic Tone, Lingering Rhyme” in September 2021.
Zhao Guanjie (Xiqin / Zhonghu)
Zhao Guanjie graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the Traditional Chinese Instruments Department of the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music in 2002. During his studies, he was awarded college scholarships consecutively. Zhao was once the principal musician of the Youth Chinese Orchestra of the Central Conservatory of Music, and the deputy principal player of Erhu of the China National Traditional Orchestra. In 2004, he joined the Singapore Chinese Orchestra as the principal player of Zhonghu. He has won numerous national and international Erhu professional competition awards. In 2006, he joined the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra with the first professional result in his field of study, and promoted to the principal player of Erhu principal and assistant principal player of Gaohu later on. He has performed in dozens of countries in Asia, Europe and North America. His playing style is overwhelming but simple, the timbre is natural and pure, the playing techniques are solid, and the skills are rich and varied. He is good at using huqins to express a variety of musical styles and musical languages. He has also cooperated with art groups in different fields such as Hong Kong Dance Company, Wuji Ensemble and Legend Lin Dance Theatre, and tried to combine various art media with Chinese music.
Gao Sijia (Five-string Pipa)
Gao Sijia graduated with a bachelor’s degree with first-class honors and a master's degree with distinction from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). She finished conducting courses at HKAPA, with guidance from the conductor He Wenchuan and the resident conductor of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Zhou Xijie. Gao has been active in Hong Kong's music scene for many years, and her performance skills and delicate interpretation are deeply appreciated by music fans. She has been invited to perform overseas including the United Kingdom, Belgium, Austria, Melbourne and Singapore.
Having cultivated lots of outstanding students, Gao has been invited to coordinate and produce several educational music albums, and to promote Chinese culture and art as well as to nurture new players in the music scene online. Gao is currently Pipa instructor of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Junior Music Programme, principal Pipa player of the Hong Kong Music Lover Chinese Orchestra and member of Wuji Ensemble. She was also invited musician of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, joint conductor of the Music for Our Young Foundation, conductor of the adult ensemble group of the Hong Kong Music Office, invited performer of Hong Kong Sinfonietta and guest performer of the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra.
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