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Guqin master Li Xiangting will give three concerts in Hong Kong next month (January).
The concerts will be held at 7.30pm on January 16 (Friday) at the Lecture Hall, Sheung Wan Civic Centre; and at 2.30pm and 7.30pm on January 17 (Saturday) at the Xiang Hai Xuan Multi-purpose Hall, Nan Lian Garden.
The programme will feature a series of guqin masterpieces, including "Three Melodies of Plum Blossom", "Memories of an Old Friend", "Three Variations on Yangguan", "Flowing Water" and "The Elegant Orchid". Maestro Li will also invite audiences to suggest any piece for an impromptu performance.
Li Xiangting first learned guqin under the instruction of Cha Fuxi and later under Wu Jinglue at the Central Conservatory of Music to which he was admitted in 1958. After graduation he took up teaching at the conservatory. In 1989, he went to Cambridge University in the United Kingdom to research guqin improvisational performances. He also gave lessons on guqin and xiao at the Centre of Music Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Since 1994, he has been a professor, teaching at the Central Conservatory of Music. He is currently the vice-president of the Beijing Guqin Research Association and the president of the China Guqin Committee under the auspices of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society.
Li has given performances and talks in many countries, including more than 40 solo recitals. He made guqin history with the first solo recital at the Oriental Music Festival in Durham in 1982. His solo recital, performed to a full-house audience of 1,000 at the Theatre de la Ville in Paris in 1992, set the record for the largest attendance at a guqin recital. Recently, he has given solo recitals and performed on important occasions with the "Jiuxiao Huanpei" guqin, which was made in the 8th century for court performances during the Tang dynasty. Li was part of the delegation accompanying Premier Wen Jiabao on a visit to Japan in 2007 and played the antique instrument at an official occasion. As a member of the Chinese delegation led by President Hu Jintao, Li also performed at the opening ceremony of the 8th Shanghai Co-operation Organisation Summit in Tajikistan this year.
"Guqin Concert by Li Xiangting" is one of the concerts in the "Nan Lian Garden Chinese Music Series" presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Tickets priced at $200 (free seating) are now available at URBTIX outlets. Senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients may have 50% off (limited quotas for students and CSSA recipients on a first-come, first-served basis). A maximum discount of 20% is offered for group booking and "Nan Lian Garden Chinese Music Series" schemes. Please refer to the programme leaflet for details.
Other attractions in the "Nan Lian Garden Chinese Music Series" include "Wang Xinxin Vocal Performance of the Nanguan School" (December 19 and 20), "Nanyin Concert by Tong Kin-woon" (February 22, March 7 and 14, 2009), "Harmonious Chords - A Chinese Music Concert Featuring the Qin and the Se" (February 27 and 28), "Green is the Willow – Guqin Recital by Jin Wei" (March 6 and 7) and "By the Nan Lian Garden – Concert by Chinese Music Virtuosi" (March 21).
Nan Lian Garden is located at 60 Fung Tak Road, Diamond Hill, Kowloon, adjacent to the Chi Lin Nunnery. Enquiries: 2329 8811.
For enquiries about the programme, call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp. Ticketing enquiries and reservations can be made on 2734 9009 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Issued at HKT 11:45
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