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Acclaimed for its ability to embrace different musical traditions, the Four Gig Heads Percussion Group will perform "Percussion Symphony" in August.
A fascinating programme will include the pieces "Next Game", "Firecracker Rockets"(including gongs and drums of Sichuan), "Percussion Quartet: The Romping Golden Pheasants" (including the daliuzi, a traditional percussion instrument of the Tujia ethnic minority), as well as "Bicksa", "Camel Bells of Xinjiang", "Carnival Overture", "Adagio for Strings", "Marching Season" and Tchaikovsky's "Finale of Symphony No.4".
The Four Gig Heads Percussion Group, comprising local percussionists Angus Fu Ye-chung, Ho Yi-on, Luk Kin-bun and Jason Leung Ching-kit, was founded in 1998. The aim of the group is to promote percussion music of both the Eastern and Western genres. The members also compose and arrange percussion music themselves, opening new musical dimensions and creating a unique "percussion culture" for Hong Kong.
The group is often invited to perform at cultural events in Hong Kong, and was featured in the solo percussion segment and as lead player at "The Music of the Dragons Concert" and the "Dragon Jamboree" in celebration of the 5th and 10th anniversaries of the Hong Kong SAR in 2002 and 2007. Both events broke Guinness World Records for percussion arrangements. Other performing occasions include a reception celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2009, and in support of the City Contemporary Dance Company's "Warrior Lanling" in 2007 and "Dao Extraordinary" in 2009.
The group has also often been invited to attend international cultural activities, with performances at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and at arts festivals in Berlin, London, Korea and the Philippines. The group is dedicated to the promotion of music education in Hong Kong and has given many educational concerts in schools and served as artist-in-residence at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the University of Hong Kong. In 2007, the group established "Made in Hong Kong @ Four Gig Heads", a youth group which provides professional percussion training for young musicians. In this upcoming performance they will display great effort in showcasing their achievements.
The group has a versatile repertoire encompassing an impressive array of styles, including Peking opera percussion, gong-and-drum music of eastern Zhejiang, the daliuzi of the Tujia ethnic minority of western Hunan, American country music, Brazilian samba, as well as works by leading contemporary composers.
Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Four Gig Heads Percussion Group Annual Concert 2012 - "Percussion Symphony" will be staged at 8pm on August 11 (Saturday) at the Auditorium, Tuen Mun Town Hall. Tickets priced at $140, $110 and $80 are now available at all URBTIX outlets, on the Internet and by credit card telephone booking. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients (limited tickets for CSSA recipients available on a first-come, first-served basis). A group booking discount scheme is also available. Please refer to the programme leaflet for details.
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7321, or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/000003e4.html . For ticketing enquiries, please call 2734 9009. For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For Internet bookings, please visit www.urbtix.hk .
Ends/Thursday, July 12, 2012
Issued at HKT 11:45
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