Being one of the high-lights of the International Arts Carnival, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (HKCO) joins hands with Hong Kong Plucked String Chinese Orchestra and Spring-Time Parenthood Theatre, in presenting the “Pluckety Pluck - Chinese Plucked String Music” at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall on August 4 at 3pm and August 4-5 at 8pm. Sharing with you the wonderful diversity of plucked string instruments with a blend of Chinese Music and drama.

    Plucked string instruments have an exotic quality that is charming and at the same time unique. They are played with either a plectrum or the fingers, or by hammering with bamboo pieces. They have a history that dates back to long before the existence of bowed string instruments. More than three millennia ago, during the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BCE -256 BCE), the qin and the se were already in existence. The zhu appeared during the Warring States Period (475BCE-221BCE), followed by the zheng during the Qin Dynasty (221BCE-206BCE), the konghou and ruan during the Han Dynasty (206BCE-220CE), the pipa during the Sui and Tang periods(581-907), the sanxian during the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368), and the yangqin, the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644).

    Tickets for “Pluckety Pluck - Chinese Plucked String Music” are now available at all URBTIX Outlets at $200, 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

Chew Hee-chiat Conductor
Currently Assistant Conductor of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. Chew Hee-chiat went to the United States in 1990 to take up a double degree programme at the Southeast Missouri State University in computer science and music (with a cello major). He went on to read a postgraduate course at the University of South Carolina under Dr Donald Portnoy, and was awarded a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting in 1996. Chew was appointed Music Director of the Professional Cultural Centre Orchestra (PCCO) of Malaysia in 1996. Conducting aside, Chew is also an active composer. His works have characteristic features that demonstrate his Southeast Asian cultural heritage. They include Orchestra Suite No.1 and Orchestra Suite No.2 which won him the second runner-up prize in the International Competition for Chinese Orchestral Compositions 2000 organized by HKCO; The Third, which won him the Outstanding Composition Award in the Chinese Music Competition 2002 organized by the Council for Cultural Affairs in Taiwan; Fantasy Dance (a Hong Kong premiere); Tradition? for bangdi and small orchestra (a Singapore premiere); and Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra.

Hong Kong Plucked String Chinese Orchestra
The Hong Kong Plucked String Chinese Orchestra was formerly Melos Chinese Orchestra, first established in 1998 by a group of young Chinese music aficionados. The hundred-strong orchestra is made up of students, undergraduates and alumni of the Department of Music of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Baptist University. Their mission is to promote and develop the rich legacy of Chinese plucked string music. Since its establishment, the Orchestra has been playing an active part in various kinds of community activities, including community concerts, lunch-time concerts held at the various town halls of the territory, and interactive music exchange activities with young students coming from primary and secondary schools. The Orchestra gave a concert entitled Lifelong Passion Rekindled in April, 2006. In it, the programme featured pipa, wind and percussion ensemble music performed by one hundred players, and zheng concerto with eighty players etc., which showcase the versatility and adaptability of plucked string music in ensemble and concerto formats.

Spring-Time Parenthood Theatre
Spring-Time Parenthood Theatre is a registered non-profit-making organization. Founded in 2004, it currently has a membership of 100, all children aged between 3 and 13.The theatre company is dedicated to art education and performing arts. By merging the two and making them a part of everyday life, offered with training and actual performance, it is hoped that children’s potentials would be developed. In the course of such immersion, parents and their children would be able to spend more time together, communicate better, and thereby establish a better understanding. The rehearsals and performing experience would enhance team spirit among children, help them establish a proper attitude towards life, and make positive contributions to the community.