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Acclaimed dizi virtuoso Zhan Yongmin will stage two recitals in December to launch this year's Nan Lian Garden Music Series.
"Dizi Recital by Zhan Yongmin" will be held at 2.30pm and 7.30pm on December 20 (Saturday) at the Xiang Hai Xuan Multi-purpose Hall of the Nan Lian Garden. Zhan will collaborate with guest performers Lu Shasha (Guzheng) and Tian Xin (sheng) to perform a series of classic works. The repertoire of the two recitals will be slightly different, offering the audiences different yet equally enjoyable performances. The programme in the first recital will include "The Secluded Orchid in Spring", "Wu-Bang-Zi" and "Three Variations on Plum Blossom", while the second concert will feature "A Daybreak in Spring on the West Lake", "Happy Reunion" and "Flying Partridges". Audiences will also be treated to "The Young Cowherd", "Autumn Meditation in the Boudoir", "Days of Yore" and "Listening to the Murmuring Spring" in the two recitals.
Zhan is a national class-one musician and one of the leading figures in dizi music today. He entered the Zhejiang Arts School, where he trained under dizi maestro Zhao Songting, in the 1970s. He also studied at the Central Conservatory of Music, the Chinese National Academy of Arts and the University of Western Sydney in Australia. Zhan came to fame when he won the first prize in the traditional instrumental music competition (dizi section) organised by the Ministry of Culture in the 1980s. This was followed by numerous awards in music competitions in the Mainland and overseas.
Zhan has groomed an international pool of talented dizi performers, and has contributed to academic and scientific studies of Chinese flute culture. He is currently teaching in the Traditional Instruments Department at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, as well as vice president of the China Bamboo Flute Society under the auspices of the Chinese Musicians' Association and honorary president of the Zhao Songting Society of Dizi Music.
"Dizi Recital by Zhan Yongmin" is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Tickets priced at $240 (free seating) are now available at URBTIX. 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 full-time students and CSSA recipients available on a first-come, first-served basis). A maximum discount of 20 per cent is offered for the Nan Lian Garden Music Series and the group booking package.
Other programmes in the Nan Lian Garden Music Series include "Guzheng Recital by Wang Zhongshan" (January 9 and 10), "Guqin Recital by Li Mingzhong and Li Cun" (January 17) and "Shakuhachi Recital by Fukuda Teruhisa" (February 7).
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/program_683.html. Ticketing enquiries can be made on 3761 6661 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Monday, November 10, 2014
Issued at HKT 11:00
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