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Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra will stage its "Violin in Full Moon" concerts in September to celebrate the mid-autumn festival.
The orchestra, under the baton of music director Dr Yip Wai-hong will join with five promising young violinists to perform at 8pm on September 12 to 14 (Friday to Sunday) at the auditoriums of Sha Tin Town Hall, Tsuen Wan Town Hall and North District Town Hall.
The programme, presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, will feature Suppe's "Light Cavalry Overture", excerpts from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", Gluck's "Melodie", Kreisler's "Liebesleid", John Williams' "Schindler's List", Debussy's "Clair de lune" and Elgar's "Salut d' Amour", as well as traditional Chinese pieces "Moonlight Lullaby" and "Reflections of the Moon on the Water".
The Pan Asia Symphony is an amateur orchestra formed to promote music appreciation especially among the young in Hong Kong. It has performed frequently at the Hong Kong City Hall, regional town halls, civic centres and parks and playgrounds over the past 20 years. A number of internationally acclaimed conductors and soloists have performed with the orchestra. It has also organised talks to introduce serious classical music and Chinese orchestral music to the public, and at the same time, to promote an awareness of indigenous culture.
The five young violinists are Olivia Mok, Doris Lee, John Lam, Chow Tsz Sin and Felix Tham.
Olivia Mok, an 11-year old Primary Six student at Diocesan Girls' Junior School, started violin lessons at the age of six. Her music teachers are Ho Hong-ying and Professor Lin Yaoji of the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing. She also receives ensemble training from Yang Baozhi and studies piano under Emily Lam. Mok was awarded the Royal School's Grade Eight certificate with distinction and an Associate of the Trinity College London (ATCL) Performance Diploma at the age of nine. A frequent prize-winner at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, Mok is a member of the Hong Kong Children's Symphony Orchestra and performed as a soloist in the orchestra's Bangkok tour in 2001.
Doris Lee, 15, studied violin from the age of five and was taught by Li Wing-shun, Ho Hong-ying and Professor Lin Yaoji. In the past five years, Lee has won numerous awards in solo performance competitions and concerto sections of the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. Since 1996, she has performed regularly with the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra and her performances have been highly praised. She was awarded an Advanced Certificate in Violin with distinction by the Royal Schools of Music in England in 2000, a Diploma of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in 2002 and the first prize in the String Section of the First TOYAMA Asian Youth Music Competition. Lee was the concertmaster of the Diocesan Girls' Junior School Orchestra and String Orchestra and is currently a member of the Diocesan Girls' School Orchestra, the Hong Kong Children's Symphony Orchestra and Yip's Violin Class for the Talented.
A graduate of Kowloon Tong Primary School, John Lam started his violin lessons at Yip's Children's Centre, and was taught by Yang Baozhi and Professor Lin Yaoji. The 11-year-old has won first prizes in both Intermediate and Senior Sections of Violin Solo in the School Music Festival. Currently a member of Yip's Children's Choir, Lam toured with the Choir in 2001 as a violin soloist. He is also a member of the Hong Kong Children's Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared twice as a soloist with the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra.
Kiann Chow began her violin lessons with Li Wing-shun, and Professor Zheng Shi Sheng and was awarded a Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music (LRSM) and ATCL in violin. Chow has won many prizes in the Hong Kong Music Festival, including the Sandra Wagstaff Scholarship for String Concerto, the second prize in Violin Concerto Class (aged 18 and under) and the first of Miss Barbara Fei Instrumental Scholarship. She was awarded a full scholarship to participate in the European Youth Summer Music Festival in England, and played as a violin soloist in the concert. She won the third prize in the Group Division at the age of 13 and the Fifth National Junior Youth Violin Contest at 14. She is a member of Yip's Violin Class C and the Hong Kong Children's Symphony Orchestra.
Felix Tham, a 20-year-old graduate from Winchester College, UK, is now studying law at Durham University, UK. He started his violin studies at the age of five under the tutelage of Yau Sing-yeh and Lee Hau-yee, while receiving regular tuition from Professor Lin Yao-ji. Tham has appeared as a soloist with the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. He has also performed as a soloist in the Tenth Tochigi Prefecture National Culture Festival, Japan, and the Pan Pacific International Music Camp in Australia. He was the youngest guest performer in the Skene Award Final Competition at the Aberdeen International Music Festival in Scotland where he won the Best Newly Formed Ensemble and Audience Prize. His performances at Winchester College, Windsor Castle and Cambridge were warmly appraised. He formed his own ensemble at Durham University and has taken concert tours to Europe.
Tickets priced at $100 (except for North District Town Hall's performance), $80 and $60 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 (limited tickets for students and CSSA recipients available on a first-come, first-served basis). A 10% discount is also available for Friends of LCSD performing venues.
For programme enquiries, call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp. Ticketing enquiries and reservations can be made on 2734 9009 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked through the website, www.urbtix.gov.hk.
End/Tuesday, August 19, 2003
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