“Chan Wing-wah & HKCO” concert will be held on 6 January, at 8:00pm, at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.

    At this concert that features a full programme of Hong Kong composer Chan Wing-wah’s works, Yan Huichang, the HKCO’s Artistic Director, will be conducting three of his compositions: Symphony No. 7: The Great Wall (2004), the festive Celebration Overture, the first commissioned work he wrote for the HKCO in 1989, and Rejoice in Peace, which he wrote in 1993 as a goodwill message to Hong Kong and the world. The three pieces share one trait with most of his other works, which is a wish for universal peace and harmony. Also in the music is the characteristic go-getting, enterprising spirit, and sanguine outlook of the Hongkonger, which can be uplifting at chaotic times.

    Chan will be conducting the premier of his Symphony No. 8 – This Boundless Land. In it, the Hong Kong spirit is sublimated into a religious state where Man and the Gods are one. It will be a blessing for all mankind as we face the new year ahead.

    Tickets for “Chan Wing-wah & HKCO” concert are now available at all URBTIX Outlets at $220, 180, 130 and 100. Half-price tickets are offered for senior citizens, people with disabilities and full-time students. Please refer to the programme leaflet for more details on discount schemes. Enquiries: 3185 1600; Booking Hotline: 2734 9009. Internet Booking: www.urbtix.hk; HKCO website: www.hkco.org .

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Artists Biography

Yan Huichang Conductor
National Class One Conductor. As a conductor who has worked with all professional Chinese orchestras in Beijing, Shanghai, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, Yan has won the acclaim of the music circles in China and abroad for his artistic and conducting talents. Under his baton, and in collaboration with the famous composer Zhao Jiping, the Symphony Orchestra section of the China National Symphony Orchestra made the soundtrack recordings for such award-winning films as Raise the Red Lantern, Ballad of the Yellow River, and Five Girls and a Rope. Yan was awarded the “Cultural Medallion (Music)” by the National Arts Council of Singapore in September 2001. Since 2004, he has been a Visiting Professor in many music conservatories. Yan was awarded a Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS) by the Chief Executive of HKSAR in 2004 in recognition of his remarkable achievements in Chinese music as well as his efforts in promoting Chinese music.

Chan Wing-wah Composer and Conductor
Chan Wing-wah has written over hundred compositions including seven symphonies, several of which were recorded with the label of Hugo Production. Internationally his work Autumn had won the first prize of the International Double Reed Society Composition Contest in the United States and his Transit also won him the Yoshiro Irino Memorial Award. Locally he was presented the 1991 Composer of the Year Award by the Hong Kong Artists’ Guild and the 1992 Outstanding Young Person’s Award. His music had also won him the 1997 Most-Performed Local Serious Work and the 2004 Best Serious Music Composition, Golden Sail Award presented by the Composers & Authors Society of HK. Performers of his music had included the Kronos Ouartet, USA; Kroumata Ensemble, Sweden; St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Russia, and other orchestras in Romania, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong. His recent premiere had included a new string quartet in Stuttgart, Germany during the International Society for Contemporary Music World Music Days Festival 2006 and a septet written for the 2006 Summer Music Festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Hong Kong Oratorio Society Chorus
Founded in 1956, and with a membership of over hundred singers and an average of six concerts annually, the Hong Kong Oratorio Society can be counted as the longest established, largest, and most active choir in Hong Kong. Over the past 49 years, the Society has presented more than three hundreds of concerts and performed over 90 oratorios and major choral works by classical and contemporary composers. Many of these works were introduced to the audiences in Hong Kong for the first time. In addition, the Society has commissioned three choral works. 4 CD recordings released since 1996 has won worldwide applause. The Society Choir has toured overseas to give concerts in Israel, Canada, Korea, Macau, Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, and China (including Xiamen, Beijing and Shanghai) with great success. The present Music Director is Prof. Chan Wing-wah, JP. Over the years, many conductors, vocalists, pianists and singers have participated in the Society's rehearsals and concerts.

Allegro Singers Chorus
The Allegro Singers is a non-profitmaking organization founded in 1964 by Miss Barbara Fei. Its aims are to cultivate music talents in the younger generation, to raise the standard of individual singers through choral singing and to promote music activities in Hong Kong. The choir has a wide-ranging repertoire which embraces western classical music, Chinese art songs and folksongs as well as folksongs from other parts of the world. Over the years, the choir has given over a hundred concerts, including concert tours to Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, etc and appeared on radio, television, charity concerts, Christmas concerts and student concerts.

Wong Kin-yu Organ
Wong Kin-yu is one of the most active organists in Hong Kong. A graduate from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, she also holds the Diploma in Education from the University of Hong Kong and the LRSM diplomas in piano teaching and organ performance. In 1976, she pursued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London where she studied organ and was awarded the LRAM and ARCM diplomas and two major prizes on organ performance. Wong has given many organ recitals and appears frequently as accompanist for soloists and choirs. She has been the regular accompanist of the HK Oratorio Society for more than 20 years and has cooperated with many local choirs in over 100 performances. Besides giving performances, Wong teaches organ at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University and the Alliance Bible Seminary.