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To mark the centenary of the birth of Aaron Copland, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department is going to present "A Concert of American Music" with works of Aaron Copland and two of his compatriots Samuel Barber and Leonard Bernstein.

Various local musicians and vocalists will participate in the concert to bring music lovers famous works of these three great American including Copland's "El Salon Mexico", Barber's "Rain Has Fallen", Berstein's "The Ballad of Eldorado", etc.

Joining the performance there will be soprano Francesca Chan and tenor Owen Wong, clarinettist Andrew Simon, pianists Hui Ling, Eva Lue, and Stephen Wong.

Francesca Chan is a Hong Kong born soprano who majored in voice and piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She has subsequently studied with leading vocal coaches in France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the United States and Britian. Her concerts and radio and television appearances have taken her to twenty countries around the world, from Scotland to New Zealand.

Owen Wong graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the University of Wales, Bangor in the United Kingdom with his Master Degree of Arts in Music. He has given solo recitals at various performing venues in Hong Kong. Wong has had extensive experience in coaching musical and theatrical works.

Andrew Simon is currently Principal Clarinettist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He has won the First Prize in the International Clarinet Society Competition and the National Arts Club Competition in Hong Kong and was the winner of the Artists International Young Musician Auditions Clarinet Award. His newly released solo recording, "HOT", has won him great acclaim.

Hui Ling graduated from the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music and further studied at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She won the top prize of the Singapore Rolex Music Performance Award in 1989 and has performed with several orchestras internationally.

Eva Lue has studied at the Royal College of Music, London, where she majored in piano performing under renowned teachers. Since her return to Hong Kong, Eva Lue has appeared as concerto soloist with various orchestras. Her recitals and radio broadcasts both as soloist and accompanist were welcomed with critical acclaim.

Stephen Wong finished his Master of Music in 1992. He won the Concerto Competition in 1991 with the McGill Symphony Orchestra. His own trio (piano, violin, cello) has performed extensively across Canada and made frequent recordings for Canadian Broadcasting corporation.

The concert will be held at 8 pm on November 13 (Monday) at Hong Kong City Hall. Tickets priced at $150 and $100 are now available at all URBTIX outlets. Half-price concessions will be granted to senior citizens, people with disabilities and full-time students.

For programme enquiries, please call 2734 2935; for ticketing enquiries and telephone reservations, please call 2734 9009.

LCSD would like to take this chance to make a tribute to Clive Bernard Simpson, the organiser of this concert. He was a much-loved Hong Kong figure, active in the arts for over forty years. The plans and programme had already been formulated at the time of his unexpected death at the end of June this year.

End/Thursday, October 19, 2000

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