**************************************************
A concert by a 50-member orchestra, featuring Chinese classical music and Hong Kong¡¦s popular television themes, will be staged in Montreal early next month to promote the cultural relationship between Montreal and Hong Kong, as well as to raise funds for the McGill University Health Centre's Women¡¦s Health Mission.
The Friendship Across the Ocean concert will be held at Monument National's Salle Ludger-Duvernay in the heart of Montreal's performing arts district on April 6 (Montreal time) at 7.30pm.
The concert is presented by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada and organised by the Montreal Section of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association. The newly appointed HKETO Director Ms Maureen Siu will be hosting a VIP reception before the concert. The Mayor of Montreal, Gˆmrald Tremblay, will be among the VIPs attending both the reception and the concert.
Karl Pang, music director of the concert, will orchestrate the musicians from Toronto Chinese Orchestra and the Chinese music ensemble of the Overseas Chinese Music society (Ontario) to perform before an audience of 800 at the theatre, which combines exquisite 19th-century architecture with exceptional acoustics and ambiance.
The concert will feature the guest performances of three of the best known Chinese music masters in Canada: yangqin master Ms Anna Guo, erhu master George Gao and pipa master Miss Wendy Zhao, as well as guest performer Miss Ting Hong. George Gao will be playing a colourful ¡§East meets West¡¨ theme together with Bill Bridges (guitar) and Lew Mele (bass). More than a dozen popular Chinese classical pieces will be presented to music lovers.
Repertoire to be performed at the concert include television theme music by Hong Kong¡¦s famous composer Joseph Koo; traditional pieces such as ¡§Drums in Celebration of a Bumper Harvest and Ambush from All Sides; folk music such as The Dragon Boat; a unique modern interpretation of ¡§Flying Apsaras; and The Fishermen's Triumphant Song, which features eastern Zhejiang gongs and drums.
Born and raised in Hong Kong and educated in Canada, conductor Pang is a seasoned musician with his musical roots in Hong Kong. Most of the members of the orchestra came from Hong Kong as immigrants in past years. It is their strong ties with the Asia's world city that bring them together.
The three guest music masters, Ms Anna Guo, George Gao and Miss Wendy Zhou, all are celebrated individuals who have participated extensively in numerous concerts and musical events internationally.
Miss Guo received a grant from Canada Council for the Arts in 2004 and had done a successful research project in the United States with fellow American dulcimer musicians. She is currently the Music Director of the Dynhuang Chamber Ensemble in Toronto and also teaches at the World Music Centre of the Royal Conservatory of Music.
George Gao has performed extensively in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Denmark, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. Gao¡¦s work on popular science fiction TV program ¡§Earth: Final Conflict¡¨ has been nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music, and he is also featured in the soundtrack for the short documentary film The Blood of Yingzhou District, which won the Oscar for Documentary Short Subject in 2007.
Wendy Zhao, an internationally acclaimed Pipa virtuoso, has presented numerous solos and concerto concerts throughout Canada, China, the United States and the United Kingdom. She combines eastern musical tradition with western classical repertoire to perform in different styles, and has collaborated with some world's top classical ensembles.
Concert tickets are available at the Monument National box office. Tickets are priced at $150, $100, $75 and $40. For ticket enquiry, please contact Monument National at (514) 871-2224 or 1-866-844-217, or the Admission Network at (514) 790-1245 or 1-800-361-4595.
Ends/Friday, March 21, 2008
Issued at HKT 06:44
NNNN