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Local musical alchemist Samson Young will collaborate with German technologist Chris Ziegler and Australian violist extraordinaire William Lane in the multimedia production "Circus & Spectacles", to be staged in March.
"Circus & Spectacles" is a musical-technological-mechanical work that deconstructs the notion of the virtuosic body in the performing arts through Nicolo Paganini's "Caprices". Ziegler's body sensing system, Young's mechanical installation, Paganini's devilishly difficult score rendered by Lane and juggler-actor Zani's acrobatic feats combine into an evening-long multimedia buffet that is not to be missed.
Samson Young has been known to draw on his diverse expertise for unique inter-media experiences. His works are fundamentally informed by an engagement with new cultural-technological paradigms, yet deeply grounded in the classical musical tradition. In 2007, Young became the first person from Hong Kong to receive the Bloomberg Emerging Artist Award with his audio-visual project "The Happiest Hour". Young has been the Hong Kong Sinfonietta's artist associate and is a regular guest at festivals around the globe, such as the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (Germany, 2006), the Perspectives International Festival of Media Art (US, 2009) and the Kuala Lumpur Contemporary Music Festival (Malaysia, 2009). Young is a PhD fellow at Princeton University, and an assistant professor in Critical Intermedia Art at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong.
Chris Ziegler is a new media artist and director. Since the early 1990s, he has participated in numerous international collaborations for interdisciplinary projects in new media with the performing arts. His interactive film installations, multimedia performances and scenographic works are presented at festivals internationally. He received a Young Art and New Media Award in Munich in 2001 and won several design awards afterwards.
The recipient of a number of major scholarships and a prize winner at various international competitions, William Lane has performed as a soloist, orchestral player and chamber musician in Australia, Asia, Europe and North America. He has been a violist in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and is the artistic director of the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble. He regularly collaborates with artists from other disciplines, including the Guangdong Modern Dance Company and Zuni Icosahedron.
Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, "Circus & Spectacles" will be held at 8pm from March 16 and 17 (Friday and Saturday) and at 4.30pm on March 18 (Sunday) at the Black Box Theatre, Kwai Tsing Theatre. Tickets priced at $200 (free seating) are now available at URBTIX outlets, on the Internet and by credit card telephone booking. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients (Limited tickets for CSSA recipients are available on a first-come, first-served basis). A maximum discount of 20 per cent is offered for special discount and group booking packages.
A post-performance talk (conducted in English) will be held after the performance on March 17. There will also be a guided tour (free admission, conducted in English) and a workshop entitled "When Music Meets Multimedia Lecture" (tickets priced at $50; conducted in English, with occasional Cantonese). Please refer to the programme leaflet for details.
For enquiries regarding the programme and the associated events, please call 2268 7323 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/multi_arts/00000376.html. Ticketing enquiries can be made on 2734 9009 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Friday, February 3, 2012
Issued at HKT 13:04
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