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The following is issued on behalf of the Provisional Regional Council:

The Provisional Regional Council's Artist-in-residence Scheme will feature a theme of "Strings - the Music, the Musicians and their Instruments" between April and October in Tsuen Wan Town Hall (TWTH). A series of activities starting from tomorrow (Thursday) will be held by Wong Sze-hang and the Hong Kong String Quartet.

Under the Artist-in-residence Scheme, the Quartet and its individual members will hold talks, demonstrations and concerts for the general public to promote interest, understanding and appreciation of classical music, with focus on strings and string quartets. Strings players or students may participate in masterclasses and workshops to enhance techniques on solo and ensemble. Outstanding players will be invited to perform with the Quartet members in concerts to be held in TWTH.

The Hong Kong String Quartet, recently the Resident Quartet of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, was formed in 1993 by four outstanding musicians - Wong Sze-hang and Chow Lap-chung (violin), Meidad Yehudayan (viola) and Richard Bamping (cello), who have not only a passion for chamber music but a mission to promote it to Hong Kong people too.

Since its debut at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Quartet has been active in giving performances including a tour in northern China, concerts in Beijing, Hong Kong and Macau. This February, the Quartet has performed at the International Music Festival in Beijing.

To help promote the work of local composers, the Quartet has been actively commissioning and including their compositions in its concerts, through the support of the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong.

Details of activities held by the Quartet are as follows:

Activity Date Time Venue

-------- ---- ---- -----

Foyer Performance

Session 1 April 1 (Thursday) 7 pm Foyer

Session 2 April 22 (Thursday) 7 pm Ditto

Talk/Demonstration

Session 1 April 4 (Sunday) 3 pm Exhibition

Gallery

Session 2 April 19 (Monday) 7 pm Ditto

Session 3 May 2 (Sunday) 3 pm Ditto

Session 4 May 9 (Sunday) 3 pm Ditto

Session 5 May 16 (Sunday) 3 pm Ditto

Session 6 June 1 (Tuesday) 7 pm Ditto

(i.e. Session 1: Choosing the right instrument for your children, Session 2: Learning the violin, Session 3: Techniques on a string instrument, Session 4: To be a professional violinist - a life-long commitment, Session 5: The strings repertoire, Session 6: String quartets and other forms of chamber music.)

Masterclass

Solo pieces June 6 (Sunday) 3 pm Ditto

Chamber pieces June 20 (Sunday) 3 pm Ditto

Chamber pieces June 27 (Sunday) 3 pm Ditto

Workshop

Session 1 September 5 (Sunday) 3 pm Cultural

Activities

Hall

Session 2 October 10 (Sunday) 3 pm Exhibition

Gallery

Admission for all activities are free. For talks/demonstrations, please register at telephone number 2414 0145 starting from two weeks before each session. As for the masterclass and the workshop, application forms available at TWTH should be completed and returned to the mailbox of "Artist-in-residence Scheme - Wong Sze-hang and the Hong Kong String Quartet" at TWTH, 72 Tai Ho Road, Tsuen Wan by April 30 and May 31 respectively.

Please call Hong Kong String Quartet at 2393 3669 or TWTH at 2405 4373 for enquiries.

End/Wednesday, March 31, 1999

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