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Have
Fun with Chinese Music - a Concert for the Family
Young Chinese Music-makers
in Concert
Sing
Out! Let Chinese Music
be Your Song! | This
is a concert for the entire family: whatever your age, you will find the performance
by our youthful performers touching your heart's chord. There
will be two groups from the Hong Kong Children’s Choir singing for us - the
younger aged between 6 and 8, and the older, aged between 9 and 17. A cultural
ambassador of Hong Kong for the last thirty-five years, the Choir has traveled
all over the globe to perform. Also
on stage will be another young musician group - the Junior Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra,
which is celebrating its first anniversary at the end of 2003. They have only
given their inaugural concert in early August this year, and for this family concert,
they will be represented by the Erhu Section (age 8-13), the Guzheng Section (age
10-17) and two percussionists (age 15 and 16). These
children will be joined by two young artists: 23-year-old erhu soloist
Sun Huang from Shanghai, Champion of the Youth Section and winner of an Outstanding
Award for Performance at the
2nd Dragons Music Cup Award in China; and Guzheng
Champion of the same competition, Yuan Sha, acclaimed "an angel of music
from China" in her many overseas performances. Conducting
the Choir will be their Music Director Kathy Choi, who was a winner of the Texas
State Music Scholarship for six consecutive years during her undergraduate years. And
conducting the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra will be Chew Hee-chiat, talented composer,
conductor, and Assistant Conductor of the Orchestra since June 2002. This
is an impressive cast indeed, as we can see how music is our best friend, no matter
in what age or stage of life we are. From childhood days to youth, and from amateur
to professional performances, music gives us the chance to express ourselves and
to explore our potentials. While the children in the audience will bear the remarkable
imprint of what other children can do in music long after they have walked out
of the concert hall, their parents will definitely be impressed by the high standard
of the performance. This promises to be a unique and remarkable experience for
those attending the concert, as they will be invited to sing along and feel the
vibes of making music together!
The
programme is designed to introduce the audience (the children in particular) to
the wonderful world of Chinese music. The emotionality of the traditional Chinese
instruments is given full play in the zheng tunes, such as Song of the
Mulberry Fields by Zhou Yanjia and Spring of Liang Shan by Xu Xiaolin.
The former has the characteristics of Shaanxi folk music, filled with nostalgia
for home and sanguine hopes for a bright future; the latter demands the player
to show adept skills in depicting the folksy colour and rhythm of the Yi tribe
living in the Liang Shan mountain. Action
is enhanced in Chen Yaoxing's Battle-Horses in Stampede: horses charging
at quick speed, their neighing, and the sound of battle on the filed are vividly
recreated through music by the skilful use of the erhu bow on the two strings.
On a more lyrical note, the erhu can replace the violin and the dombra
of the Xinjiang people in creating the same versatile effects in The Sun Over
Taxkorgan. These two pieces are excellent vehicles to show what the erhu
can do. The
Hong Kong Children's Choir will be singing The Suite of Hong Kong and A
Medley of Chinese Folk Songs, with accompaniment by the Hong Kong Chinese
Orchestra. But even more interesting may be the interpretation of the medley of
songs from The Sound of Music by the Chinese orchestra. Other
items on the concert programme are The Joyous Chili Village by Chen Maojian,
a Chaozhou tune Yi-Dian-Jin, The Ox Fighting the Tiger by Wang Guojie
and the Uighur folksong from Xinjiang, Love Song of the Wagon-driver. Each
is outstanding in its music motifs and lyrical melody. Is
there truth in the saying that "children who learn music will not be bad"?
It does sound rather too subjective and sweeping, because we grow
up in life exposed to all kinds of influence along the way.
But there is
scientific ground in saying that "music can enhance children's intelligence".
Back in 1986,
a scientific research team in Chicago University picked one hundred subjects for
test among outstanding achievers in sports, mathematics and piano playing, and
conducted an in-depth research on them. It was discovered that they also had parents
who loved music, art and sports, so they were able to grow up under the influence
of music. The findings, therefore, were that music can stimulate children’s
senses and cerebral growth. As stimulants are secreted into the blood, they bring
about wholesome health and a sense of well-being, and train motor skills. "Music
makes children smarter" is, therefore, a valid saying and not conjecture
and assumption. One
thing to note, though, and that is children need "music”, not "sounds",
to stimulate cerebral growth – in other words, they need music that appeal
to the ear and to the inborn sense of aesthetics in us.
12-13.12.2003(Fri,
Sat)
Ensemble Love Song of the Wagon-driver
Uighur Folksong, Xinjiang
Arr. by Chew Hee-chiat
Erhu Ensemble The Joyous Chili Village Chen Maojian
Arr.by Li Shek-um
Performed by the JHKCO
Drum Duet The Ox Fighting Tiger Wang Guojie Arr. by Zhang Lie
Performed by the JHKCO
Choir and Orchestra The Sound of Music Medley
Performed by The Hong Kong Children’s Choir
Spring of Liang Shan Xu Xiaolin
Arr. by Yan Huichang
Song of Mulbery Fields Zhou Yanjia
Guzheng Solo: Yuan Sha
Intermission
Ensemble Yi-Dian-Jin
Chaozhou Folk Tune From the notation of Guo Ying
Arr. by Sun Wenyan
Performed by the JHKCO Zheng Group
The Suite of Hong Kong
Performed by The Hong Kong Children's Choir
Erhu and Orchestra Battle-Horses in Stampede Chen Yaoxing
Erhu and Orchestra The Sun over Taxkorgan
Arr. by Chen Gang
Re-arr. by Liu Changfu
Orch. by Chen Ning-chi
Erhu: Sun Huang
A Medley
of Chinese Folk Songs
Performed by The Hong Kong Children's Choir
 |
Terry
Bear Kingdom
Present
the couple in House Program to enjoy "Buy One Get One Free"
for Entry ticket. |
|  |
| Date:
12-13.12.2003
Time: 8:00 pm |
| Venue:
Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Concert Hall |
| $150,
$130, $110, $90 |
-
Awarded
a six-year Texas Government Music Scholarship, Choi obtained her B.M. degree in
Composition and M.M. degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Houston,
USA in 1990 and 1992.
After returning to Hong Kong in 1995, -
Choi joined
the Hong Kong Children's Choir and conducted one of the senior choirs from 1995
to 1997. Choi became the full time Music Director of the Hong Kong Children's
Choir in October 1997. Choi was selected as an awardee of the Hong Kong Ten Outstanding
Young Persons Selection in October 2001.
-
Currently
the Assistant Conductor of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra since June, 2002, Chew
has been the Music Director of Professional Cultural Center Orchestra of Malaysia
since 1996.
-
Also
an active composer with an interest to explore the interstice between traditional
Chinese and "Western" orchestrations. His works include Orchestra
Suite No.1, Orchestra Suite No.2, The Third, and Fantasy Dance. -
Yuan
began her formal training in guzheng under Liu Miao and Li Meng. She was
exempted from the admission examination to enroll in the master's degree course
of the Central Conservatory of Music in 1999.
-
Yuan
has given tours to many countries and regions in Asia and Europe. She also shared
the stage with Liu Shi-kun, the piano virtuoso. A Swiss critic described her performance
in such terms, "she could make such brilliant, unsurpassed sounds that one
cannot help feeling amazed at the beauty and lyricism coming from such an ancient
Chinese instrument". -
Sun
was born in 1981 in Shanghai, she was under the tutelage of Lin Xinming, Wang
Lili and Liu Changfu. She also trained in banhu under Li Hengxiu . She has been
on tour to overseas and won the name as "an angel of music from China".
-
She
has been a winner of ten Class One Awards in major Chinese music competitions
since 1988. They include a Class One Award at the Tianhua Cup. National Junior
Erhu Competition (1995) and the First Prize (Youth Section) as well as an Outstanding
Performance Award for Traditional Repertoire at the 2nd Dragons Music Cup Award
International Folk Instruments Competition – Erhu (2002).
The
Hong Kong Children's Choir
-
The
Hong Kong Children's Choir was founded in 1969 as a private non-profit-making
charitable organization. Today, over 4,500 boys and girls receive choral, instrumental,
dancing, arts and craft training from the Choir. Each year, tour groups are invited
to give performances overseas. The Choir has been well received and applauded
in over 54 cities, gaining an international reputation as "one of the best
children's choirs in the world" and "the Little Goodwill Singing Ambassadors
from Hong Kong".
-
For
the past thirty-four years, the Choir has made tremendous contributions towards
children's arts education in Hong Kong, not only cultivating children's interest
and talents in the arts, but also helping them develop their inter-personal skills
and cultivate their sensitivity to appreciate culture and the virtues of excellence.
Junior
Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
-
The
Junior Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra was set up by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
with the purpose of providing the young people of Hong Kong more opportunities
to come into contact with or to have a closer understanding of the rich and age-old
long music culture of China. On 1 August, 2003, the Orchestra made its debut at
the performance of "A Precious Little Baby", playing Dance of the Golden
Snakes.
-
The
Junior Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra was set up in January 2003, with a current
establishment of 109. The instruments of the Orchestra include the erhu, cello,
double bass, liuqin, pipa, yangqin, zhongruan, dizi, sheng, suona
and percussion. The structure and the size are close to those of a full-scale
Chinese orchestra. | |
