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Acclaimed guqin scholar and performer Li Mingzhong will collaborate with his daughter Li Cun in two recitals in January next year.
The duo will perform different programmes in the two recitals, which will be held at 2.30pm and 7.30pm on January 17 (Saturday) at the Xiang Hai Xuan Multi-purpose Hall of the Nan Lian Garden, offering audiences different yet equally enjoyable performances. In the matinee performance, Li Mingzhong will perform "Wild Geese on the Sandbank", "Dragon Intoning on the Sea", "Flowing Water", "Autumn Thoughts at Lake Dongting", "Autumn on the Frontier" and "Reflection of the Moon on the Water", while Li Cun will perform "The Innocent Seagulls" and qin songs "Song of Midnight from the Folk Songs of Wu", "First Variation from Eighteen Variations on a Hu Pipe Melody" and "Untitled".
In the evening recital, the pair will perform "Remembering an Old Friend", "Song of the Frontier", "Wild Geese on the Sandbank", "Spring Dawns on the Jade Mansion", "The Sound of Oars", "Water and Clouds of Rivers Xiao and Xiang", "Song of the Woodcutter" and the qin songs "Farewell with Dong Da", "Dream of a Qin Woman" and "Late Spring".
Li Mingzhong has been devoting himself to the making of the qin and related musicology through research into archives and scores on the subjects since the early 1970s. Over the decades, Li has garnered a lot of experience and knowledge in terms of theory, playing, notation, arrangement and crafting of the instrument. He has been invited to identify, paint and repair more than 100 qins dating back to the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and has toured Germany, Taiwan and Hong Kong to hold qin concerts. He is currently a research fellow of the Shaanxi Art Research Institute and the Xi'an Conservatory of Music.
Li Cun has been teaching professional and compulsory courses in guqin and music composition in the Xi'an Conservatory of Music since 1993. She is currently the Conservatory's Head of Chinese qin studies and deputy director of the Northwestern Folk Music Research Centre.
"Guqin Recital by Li Mingzhong and Li Cun" is part of the Nan Lian Garden Music Series presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Tickets priced at $240 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.
A post-performance demonstration talk (in Putonghua) will be held at 2.30pm on January 18 (Sunday) at the Lecture Hall of the Jao Tsung-I Academy. Speakers will include Li Mingzhong and Li Cun. Admission is free with limited seats available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Other programmes in the Nan Lian Garden Music Series include "Dizi Recital by Zhan Yongming" (December 20), "Guzheng Recital by Wang Zhongshan" (January 9 and 10) 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_686.html. For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Issued at HKT 11:01
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