*********************************************************

Two of Hong Kong's most promising classical players, cellist Letty Poon and pianist Colleen Lee, will perform together as part of the Young Soloist Series at 8pm, Tuesday, June 10 at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre.

Their programme consists of Beethoven's Sonata No. 5 for Piano and Cello in D, Faure's Elegie, Popper's Hungarian Rhapsody, Rachmaninov's Prelude in F, Schumann's Fantasiestuecke and Richard Strauss's Sonata for Cello and Piano in F.

Miss Poon began her cello studies at the Music Office. She started her professional training at 17 at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under Prof Ray Wang, graduating in 2002 as a Bachelor of Music with first-class honours. Awarded the Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarship for Overseas Study, she is now in the first year of the Master of Music programme at Stony Brook University in New York state. She studies solo performance with Colin Carr and receives intensive chamber music training from the Emerson String Quartet. Miss Poon was a finalist in the 4th China National Cello Competition 2000. She has attended master classes given by Wang Jian, Laurence Lesser, Misha Maisky, Timothy Landauer and Julian Lloyd Webber. In 2002, she was invited to participate in the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.

Miss Lee only last week won the third Seiler International Piano Competition held in Germany, finishing ahead of more than 100 competitors. Earlier, she won first prize at the 7th Hamamatsu International Piano Academy Competition and was a prize winner at the 51st International Music Competition of the ARD Munich. She began piano lessons at age four and has studied with Eleanor Wong since 1987 when she was a junior student at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Past engagements have included Poland's Autumn Festival in Antonin and a charity concert in London. She has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras, including the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Academy Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Cebu Youth Symphony, the Queensland Philharmonic, the Bangkok Symphony and the Shanghai Symphony. Miss Lee has also made studio recordings for the Radio Television Hong Kong Radio 4 programme Young Music Makers.

Tickets priced at $100 are on sale at all URBTIX outlets. Half-price concessions are available for senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients (Limited student and CSSA tickets are available on a first-come-first-served basis). A 10% discount is available to Friends of LCSD performing venues and for those who purchase tickets for both this recital and the August 17 Young Soloist Series violin recital by David Leung.

For programme enquiries call 2268 7321 or visit website "www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp". For ticketing enquiries and reservations, call 2734 9009. For credit card telephone bookings, call 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked at "www.urbtix.gov.hk".

End/Tuesday, May 27, 2003

NNNN