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The Hong Kong Youth Chinese Orchestra (HKYCO) will showcase the colourful and distinctive tones and characteristics of Chinese musical instruments in its annual concert in January.
Organised by the Music Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the HKYCO's "All About the Chinese Orchestra" concert will be held at the Concert Hall of Hong Kong City Hall at 3pm on January 5 (Sunday).
Under the batons of the Music Office conductors Tsui Ying-fai and Kwok Kin-ming, the concert will feature various pieces of Chinese music including the lively and well-known "Stepping High", arranged by Peng Xiuwen; the third movement of the concerto for two erhus "Song of Wusuli"; "Song of the Tsou Tribe", featuring the traditional music style of the Tsou Tribe in Taiwan; the Suona concerto "Hua Mulan", with Henan Yu Chinese opera music elements used to present the legendary story of Hua Mulan; and "Instrumental Guide to the Chinese Orchestra", which features various musical instruments and guest narrator Kathy Lam introducing the different characteristics of the instruments.
Other pieces will include "Splendorous Jiangnan", with the dizi, the erhu and the pipa as leading instruments, and "Chinese Music for All Seasons", a commissioned work created by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra in 2004 to showcase musical styles and works from different eras.
Established in 1978, the HKYCO has about 90 members. The orchestra has taken part in numerous local performances and major festivals, including the 47th National Day Celebration Concert, the 1997 Reunification Spectacular and the "Music of the Dragons" concert in 2002. In 2000 and 2007, it performed during exchange programmes in Beijing, Xian, Nanjing, Wuxi and Jiangyin. In September 2011, the orchestra embarked on its premiere tour to Taiwan and received high acclaim for its performance at the Contemporary Chinese Orchestra Festival.
Tickets priced at $80, $60 and $40 for the concert are now available at URBTIX. Half-price concessions are available for full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders, and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients. Credit card telephone bookings can be made at 2111 5999 and Internet bookings can be made at www.urbtix.hk. For programme enquiries, please call 2796 1003 or 2582 5311, or visit the website at www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/MusicOffice/en/events_2013_11_18.php .
Ends/Friday, December 13, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:43
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