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The "City Hall Virtuosi Series: Romantic Piano Trios by Sophia Yang, Chang Pei-chieh and Gilbert Sak" will be presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) to delight Hong Kong music lovers in April.
The programme will feature Schubert's "Piano Trio No.1 in B-flat, D.898" and Dvořák's "Piano Trio No.4 in E Minor, Op.90, 'Dumky'".
Sophia Yang went to New York to pursue her music studies at the Manhattan School of Music, majoring in piano performance and receiving Bachelor's and Master's degrees. She received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from the City University of New York in 1997 and is currently a faculty member of Hong Kong Baptist University's music department.
In 2009, Yang appeared as a soloist at concerts with Taiwan's Evergreen Symphony Orchestra and Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. In the same year, she was also invited to perform two Mendelssohn piano trios in a concert to commemorate the composer's bicentennial at Hong Kong Kwang-Hwa Information and Culture Center.
Born in Taiwan, Chang Pei-chieh graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with a Master's degree in Cello Performance and took masterclasses with many of the world's leading cellists including Anssi Karttunen, Yoyo Ma, Jian Wang, Suren Bagratuni and Lynn Harrell.
Chang was granted a full scholarship in 2002 to represent Taiwan and participate in a chamber music programme entitled "2002 Young Voices from Taiwan" at New Yorkˇ¦s Lincoln Centre. She has collaborated with the New World Symphony Orchestra in Miami, the United States, as well as the Taipei Century Symphony Orchestra and the Taipei Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. She has been the Principal Cello of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta since 2008.
The first Hong Kong native to receive a Doctorate in Violin Performance, Gilbert Sak studied in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Sak has held principal positions in a number of orchestras in the United States. His participation in international music festivals and concert tours has taken him to countries including China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
As a teacher, Sak has taught violin, viola, string pedagogy, performance studies and chamber music at Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Institute of Education. He has frequently been invited by the LCSD to give lectures and pre-concert talks. In 2009, he was appointed as Hong Kong Consultant in Strings by the Trinity Guildhall of London.
"City Hall Virtuosi Series: Romantic Piano Trios by Sophia Yang, Chang Pei-chieh and Gilbert Sak" will be held at 8pm on April 22 (Friday) at the Theatre of Hong Kong City Hall. Tickets priced at $150 and $200 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/program_1117.html.
Ends/Friday, March 11, 2016
Issued at HKT 11:01
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