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The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will bring audience the "Chinese Outstanding Young Musician Series" to be held at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre on September 8, 9, 14 and 17 (Friday, Saturday, Thursday and Sunday). Four Chinese young musicians, namely Li Chuanyun, Angela Cheng, Chai Liang and Felix Fan, will reveal the potential of the new generation in their own recital.
At the age of eleven in 1991, Li Chuanyun won the First Prize in the Junior Youth Group Division of the Fifth International Wieniawski Youth Violin Competition. In 1993, he made his debut at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre when he played Paganini's "24 Caprices", which he also chose as the pieces for his first compact disc recording. In 1996, Li was awarded by the Juilliard School of Music to attend the School's Pre-College Division, where he studied with Dorothy DeLay and Itzhak Perlman. Since 1995, Li has participated in the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado every summer and in 1998, he won the Nakamichi Violin Concerto Competition held in Aspen. He recently performed with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Jarvi. Li is presently studying under Dorothy DeLay and Professor Kurt Sassmannshaus at the University of Cincinnati College - Conservatory of Music where he recently won the Saint-Saens Violin Concerto Competition. He has performed with orchestras in the United States, Canada, Korea, the Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Iceland, and has given many recitals. In Li's recital, he will play great works by Handel, R. Strauss, Gluck, Sarasate, Ma Szu Tsung, Kroll, Gershwin, Dvorak and Bazzini.
Angela Cheng has won first prizes of two prestigious international piano competitions: 1986 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition and 1988 Montreal International Piano Competition. She was also awarded the Career Development Grant from the Canada Council in 1988 and, for her outstanding interpretations of Mozart, the Medal of Excellence by the Mozarteum in Salzburg in 1991. In the United States, Cheng has worked with many symphony orchestras, and appeared with the Israel Philharmonic and major orchestras in Canada. As a solo recitalist and chamber music player, she has performed in New York, Washington, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, London, Salzburg, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Cheng's recordings to date include two Mozart's concertos and Clara Schumann's "Concerto in A Minor". Born in Hong Kong and now a Canadian citizen, Angela Cheng received her Bachelor of Music from the Juilliard School and Master of Music from the Indiana University. She is currently on the piano faculty of the Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music.
In her recital, she will play Mozart's "Piano Sonata in C, K. 330", Beethoven's "Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat, Op. 110", Debussy's "L'isle joyeuse", Louis' "Memories in an Ancient Garden" and Chopin's "Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58".
A native of the Mainland China and now based in New York City, Chai Liang has been regarded as a foremost violinist of his generation. Born in a family of musicians, Chai began learning piano at the age of four and switched to the violin five years later. After early violin studies in conservatories in Shenyang, his hometown, and in Beijing, he came to the United States in 1991 on a full scholarship, studying in the University of Southern California, and one year later, received a full scholarship from the Starling Foundation which enabled him to attend the Juilliard School, where he studied with Dorothy DeLay. He received in 1997 his Master's Degree from the Juilliard School where he now fills a two-year teaching appointment as a Fellow of the DeLay-Starling Institute. Chai has appeard as a soloist with orchestras in London, Tokyo, Beijing, Sydney and Singapore. As a recitalist, he has appeared in the Lincoln Centre, Hancock Auditorium in Los Angeles, Harris Concert Hall in Aspen, Stadtisches Konservatorium in Germany and Auditorium de Louvre in Paris. Chai will play with pianist Raymond Young brilliant pieces by Beethoven, Ysaye, Vieuxtemps, List - Milstein, Wieniawski, Dvorak and Sarasate.
With performances throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, Felix Fan has earned his place in the front ranks of today's most exciting young musicians. He has performed with leading international orchestras and in recitals at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Rudolfinum in Prague, Budapest's Vigado, the Palau in Valencia, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, and recently, at the Salle Cortot in Paris. In 1997, Yo-yo Ma invited Fan to join him onstage for the opening concert of the La Jolia Chamber Society's Celebrity Series. Additional chamber music collaborations include performances with Janos Starker and with Cho-liang Lin. Fan has also appeared in many music festivals such as Sommerfest La Jolla, the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival, New York's Bargemusic series, and the Taipei International Music Festival. Fan is the founder and Artistic Director of Muzik3, an eclectic concert series launched in San Diego in April 1998, featuring pre-contemporary, contemporary, and improvised music. His interest in contemporary music has led him in close associations with the music of Oliver Knussen, Tan Dun and the Swedish bass guitarist Jonas Hellborg. Recently, he has also recorded a disc of George Crumb's music, including his Sonata for Solo Cello, Vox balaenae and Black Angels.
In Fan's recital, "Cello Sonata in C, Op. 102, No.1" by Beethoven, "Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher" by Dutilleux, "Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello in G" by Bach, "Petals" by Saariaho and "Fantasiestucke, Op. 73" by Schumann will be brought to you by Fan and pianist Mary Wu.
The details of the "Chinese Outstanding Young Musician Series" are as follows:
Violin Recital by Li Chuanyun September 8 (Friday) 8pm
Piano Recital by Angela Cheng September 9 (Saturday) 8pm
Violin Recital by Chai Liang September 14 (Thursday) 8pm
Cello Recital by Felix Fan September 17 (Sunday) 8pm
Tickets of the "Chinese Outstanding Young Musician Series" priced at HK$ 140 and $90 are now available at all URBTIX outlets, with half-price concessions for senior citizens, people with disabilities and full-time students. A 10% discount is also applicable for "Friends of Hong Kong Cultural Centre". Please check out the programme leaflets for other discount schemes.
Programme enquiries can be made on 2734 2935 while ticketing enquiries and reservations on 2734 9009.
End/Thursday, August 17, 2000
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