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As part of the Guangdong Music Series presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, local music expert Professor Yu Siu-wah will give talks on the language and cultural identity of Hong Kong music. A total of six talks to be held in February and March will cover Hong Kong's musical identity focusing on the main influences from the early 20th century up to the 1970s.
Speaking about some of the main topics to be covered, Professor Yu said that an in-depth study of Dr Ng Wing-mui (1925-2014) and her art would reveal the long-standing connection in musical culture between Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong. He also noted that the Mainland Cantonese opera film, "Guan Hanqing" (1960), allows us to see how Cantonese opera as a genre took such divergent paths in Guangdong and Hong Kong after the liberation of China. Since the 1950s, Hong Kong has been the global centre for the production of films in the Cantonese, Mandarin, Chaozhou and Amoy dialects, and the crossover musical genres have spawned a reciprocal influence. Nanyin, or Cantonese narrative singing, found its way into Cantonese opera, Cantonese operatic songs and Cantonese films as early as the 1920s. Songs from Mandarin film soundtracks and Mandopop entered Cantonese opera and Cantonese sung music, and their melodies blended seamlessly into films of various dialects as well as into Cantopop in the 1950s. All of these confirm the eclectic mix of vernacular music in the fabric of local culture. Professor Yu will share his opinion of the above in the talks.
Details are as follows:
February 5
Topic: Nanyin: Dr Ng Wing-mui - A Beacon in Music
February 12
Topic: "Guan Hanqing" as a Watershed: A Retrospective Look at the Cantonese Opera of Hong Kong
March 5
Topic: Hong Kong as the Birthplace of Music Used in Films in Chinese Vernacular Dialects
March 12
Topic: The Sustainability of Guangdong Musical Genres
March 19
Topic: Pop Music down the Ages in Hong Kong
March 26
Topic: Local Chinese Wind-and-Percussion Music for Ritual Occasions
(Guest Speaker: Chan Chi-chun)
All talks (to be conducted in Cantonese)will be held at 7.30pm at AC1, Level 4, Administration Building, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Tickets priced at $40 per session 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 are available on a first-come, first-served basis).
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/program_711.html?tab=tabs-2159. For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For Internet bookings, please visit www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Friday, January 16, 2015
Issued at HKT 10:01
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