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Local veteran musician Mr Ho Kang-ming will hold a lecture series on Chinese music, "Pleasures Inspired by Music", organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, in September.
With the changes brought about by time, Chinese music as we know it today - especially the conventional types - has seen drastic changes, both in terms of performing practices and aesthetics. There are many traditional Chinese music activities that have become the pleasurable pursuits of small social circles for Chinese people speaking different dialects. What used to be most representative of the spirit of traditional Chinese culture, the music of the guqin, has been marginalised for a long time.
Mr Ho will invite his friends to talk about the changes experienced in Chinese music culture during the past three quarters of a century. There will also be some music-making to turn each session into light-hearted entertainment to delight and inspire.
Mr Ho began learning the pipa at a young age. He has a keen interest in ancient repertoire, particularly in the more lyrical and expressive wenban. He was a full-time musician with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra between 1976 and 1980, and gave solo recitals in the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore. In 1998, Mr Ho formed the Wind and Silk group with friends, with the aim of revitalising the authentic timbre of silk and bamboo (Chinese strings and pipe music). In 2004, he was an Artist-in-Residence at the University of Hawaii, where he performed as well as lectured. In 2005, he was invited by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra to give demonstration performances of the 13-fret pipa with silk strings at two of its concerts, "The Chinese Lute Down the Ages" and "Pluckety Pluck - Chinese Plucked String Music". In late 2005, he was part of a new theatre experience when he gave live accompaniment on the pipa to the City Contemporary Dance Company's dance drama "The Conqueror". That was followed by a pipa recital at the University of Hong Kong in the following year.
Conducted in Cantonese, the lectures will be held at 7.30pm on September 7, September 14, September 21 and September 28 at the Lecture Hall, Hong Kong Space Museum. Tickets priced at $50 for each lecture (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 students and CSSA recipients available on a first-come, first-served basis). A maximum discount of 20 per cent is offered for group bookings.
For enquiries on the lectures, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/000002dd.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/Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Issued at HKT 12:16
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