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Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, "Hong Kong City Hall Theatre Piano Series", consisting of five recitals, will be started in September with Chang Tao and Ren Zhang.
"Piano Recital by Chang Tao" will be staged at 8 pm on September 13 (Friday) at the Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall. Programme includes works by Part, Scriabin, Chopin and Ravel.
Chang began to study piano at the age of nine. From 1988 to 1992 he studied at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under the tutelage of Gabriel Kwok and received his advanced diploma in piano performance with high distinction. Currently, he is pursuing a doctoral degree in piano performance with Sequeira Costa at the University of Kansas.
Chang is the winner of several international piano competitions. He became the first winner of the J. N. Hummel International Piano Competition in the Slovak Republic in 1996, where he also won a special prize for the best performance of Hummel's music. In July 1997, he became the first Asian ever to win the Vianna da Motta International Piano Competition and was awarded a special prize for the best performance of a Chopin Nocturne. His name has been listed in the Chinese Contemporary Artists Biography.
Chang has performed in numerous solo and chamber recitals in Vienna, Brazil, Toulouse, Budapest, Penang, Kuala Lumper, the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, Portugal and the United States.
In the fall of 1998, he played three debut recitals, at the Carnegie Hall, the Wigmore Hall and the Salle Pleyel. He has also made concerto appearances with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Slovak Sinfonietta, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Hong Kong Academy Symphony Orchestra and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
"Piano Recital of Ren Zhang" will be staged at 8 pm on September 22 (Sunday) at the Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall. Programme includes works by Scarlatti, Schumann, Chopin, Ravel and Balakirev.
Ren Zhang, born in Shanghai in 1971, began his piano studies at the age of four. At twelve, he entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music where he studied for six years. After winning several prestigious competitions in China, he furthered his studies in New York. He received bachelor of music and master of music degrees from the Manhattan School of Music where he was a full scholarship student of Solomon Mikowsky and the recipient of the Elva Van Gelder Memorial Award.
In 1996, Zhang's artistry was recognized after a highly successful New York recital debut at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as a recipient of the Shura Cherkassky Award from the Artists International. He was then frequently engaged both as a recitalist and a soloist with orchestras, including the opening recital at the 1998 season Concert Series for the Sarasota Concert Association at Van Wezel Hall in Sarasota, Florida. Zhang has performed in the 1998-99 season "Distinguished Artist Concert Series" in Oyster Bay, New York, and was re-invited for the next two seasons. He was also a guest artist and lecturer for the Long Island Piano Teachers' Association and the Westchester Musicians' Guild in New York. Since 1993, Zhang has been a yearly guest artist at the Tenerife and Lanzarote international music festivals in Spain.
Tickets priced at $120 and $80 (for both performances) are now available at all URBTIX outlets. Half-price concessions will be granted to senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients (Discount tickets for students and CSSA recipients available on a first-come-first-served basis). Please check out programme leaflets for discount schemes with purchase of more than one performance in the series.
Coming attractions of the series include "Piano Recital by Cheng Wai" (October 6), "Piano Duo by Hui Ling and Julie Pun Man Kuok" (November 11) and "Piano Recital by Ci Ci Chang Chieh" (December 20).
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7321; for ticketing enquiries and reservation, please call 2734 9009; for credit card telephone booking, please call 2111 5999. To search more information on internet, please visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp
End/Friday, August 16, 2002
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