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The Vienna Boys Choir, with a history of more than 500 years and one of Austria's top cultural icons, will return with two concerts in October.
Under the baton of Hong Kong-born conductor Jimmy Chiang, the choir will present a diverse repertoire filled with energy and style. It will also collaborate with the Hong Kong Children's Symphony Orchestra in performing works by Strauss, Mozart and Mendelssohn.
Best known for its angelic voices and blue-and-white sailor suits, the Vienna Boys Choir is one of the world's best loved and oldest choirs. It has been a cultural symbol of Austria since 1498. Schubert, Joseph Haydn and Michael Haydn were themselves choristers.
The choir currently has 100 members aged between 9 and 14. They give around 300 performances each year with repertoire ranging from opera to classical music and contemporary works to pop and world music, attracting almost half a million spectators around the world.
Chiang, the conductor and pianist, was appointed as the choirmaster of the Haydn Choir of the Vienna Boys Choir in 2013. He started his musical career at 13 with his first public appearance as a concert pianist. Chiang later received the Fellows Diploma from Trinity College of Music in London and then finished his education with a Magister Artium at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where he was the last student of the Austrian conductor Leopold Hager.
Concerts by "Vienna Boys Choir" are one of the programmes in the Leisure and Cultural Services Department's Great Music 2015 series. The concerts will be held at 8pm on October 10 (Saturday) at the Concert Hall of Hong Kong City Hall and at 3pm on October 11 (Sunday) at the Auditorium of Yuen Long Theatre. Tickets with prices ranging from $150 to $380 are now available at URBTIX. 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 the Great Music 2015 package and group booking discount schemes. Please refer to the programme leaflet, the brochure or the website for details.
Highlights of Great Music 2015 also include "Encore Series: Piano Recital by Nelson Freire" (September 8), "Encore Series: Hagen Quartet" (October 6), "Singapore Chinese Orchestra" (October 17 and 18), "Encore Series: Concert by Ian Bostridge (Tenor) and Xuefei Yang (Guitar)" (October 25), "Encore Series: Violin Recital by Itzhak Perlman" (November 8) and Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore" by Musica Viva (December 11 to 13).
For enquiries on programmes, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/program_833.html . For telephone credit card booking, please call 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Thursday, August 13, 2015
Issued at HKT 12:49
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