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Young Chinese pianist Zhao Ning, winner of the 6th J.N. Hummel International Piano Competition in Bratislava in 2008, will give her first formal Hong Kong recital in September.
To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the French composer Claude Debussy, Zhao will perform one of Debussy's masterpieces, "Images, Book I", which includes "Reflets dans l'eau" and "Hommage ˆj Rameau" and "Mouvement". She will also perform Hummel's "Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 20", Bowen's "Preludes Nos. 1, 6, 7 & 20, Op. 102", Mendelssohn's "Fantasie in F-sharp minor, Op. 28" and Scriabin's "2 Mazurkas, Op. 40", "Feuillet d'album, Op. 45", "Valse, Op. 38" and "Sonata No. 9, Op. 68 'Black Mass'".
Born in Changzhou, Jiangsu, Zhao showed prodigious talent at an early age and became a student of Dan Zhaoyi at the affiliated middle school of the Xinghai Conservatory of Music. In 2004, she was admitted to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with full scholarship to study with the head of keyboard, Professor Gabriel Kwok. Zhao graduated in 2009 with first class honours in her bachelor of music degree, and in 2011 gained a master's degree after continuing her studies at the academy as a scholarship recipient.
Zhao received the Asian Cultural Council Lady Fung memorial fellowship in 2009 after studying at the Aspen Summer Music Festival in a studio of John O'Conor in the United States. During her studies at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts she took part in masterclasses by renowned pianists and tutors including Yefim Bronfman, Stephen Hough, Cristina Ortiz, Christopher Elton, Vanessa Latarche, and Yoheved Kaplinsky. She is active as a solo and collaborative pianist, and has performed in numerous cities in the Mainland, Europe and the United States. She has also performed as a soloist with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and the orchestra of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
"Piano Recital by Zhao Ning" is part of the Debussy Year celebration programme presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. It will be held at 8pm, September 28 (Friday) at the Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall. Tickets priced at $110 and $160 are now available at 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 maximum discount of 25 per cent is offered for "Our Music Talents" booking package.
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/000003ff.html. Ticketing enquiries 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/Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Issued at HKT 11:00
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