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Jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, a forum and a sharing session will be held in November to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth year of Wagner. The events will provide music and opera lovers with the chance to find out more about Wagner.
The sharing session "A Bayreuth Experience" will be held at 7.30pm on November 8 (Friday) at the Lecture Hall of the Hong Kong Space Museum. Since its opening in 1876, the Bayreuth Festival Theatre in Germany has been a centre of pilgrimage. Designed by Wagner and intended for the performance of his own operas and music-dramas, the Bayreuth theatre has remained a monument to Wagner's achievements. In this leisurely session, Tam Wing-pong, who regularly visits Bayreuth and other opera houses in Europe, will share his experiences with attendees. He will be joined by two other Wagner addicts who have also had much experience of seeing operas staged in the West. They are Ip Kim-ho, who was once a music student in Germany, and critic William Lau. Their reflections on Wagner and the Bayreuth Festival will be both informative and entertaining.
"Wagner Forum" will be held at 3pm on November 24 (Sunday) at the Miller Theater of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center. This forum will bring together three captivating speakers from different backgrounds who will share their insights on various aspects of Wagner and his music: the Chairperson of the Department of Music at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), Dr Chan Hing-yan; the Dean of the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at HKU, Professor Gabriel Leung, himself a conductor; and the Director of Global Studies Programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Professor Simon Shen. The team promises an interesting event that is definitely not to be missed.
Tickets priced at $50 (for each event) are now available at all URBTIX outlets, on the Internet and by telephone credit card 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 10 per cent discount will be offered for each purchase of standard tickets for both "A Bayreuth Experience" and "Wagner Forum".
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7321; for ticketing enquiries, call 2734 9009. For telephone credit card bookings, call 2111 5999. Internet bookings are available at www.urbtix.hk. For more information, visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/index.html.
Ends/Friday, August 9, 2013
Issued at HKT 10:01
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