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Four outstanding local musicians will collaborate for a concert of chamber music by Claude Debussy in October to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the French composer.
The concert, entitled "Debussy's Chamber Music", will be held at 8pm on October 22 (Monday) at the Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall. Kitty Cheung (violin), Chang Pei-chieh (cello), Sophia Yang (piano) and Ken So (piano) will perform Debussy's "Cello Sonata", "Violin Sonata", the two-piano work "En blanc et noir", the piano four-hand work "Petite Suite" and "Piano Trio in G".
Kitty Cheung holds Master of Music and Master in Music Performance (Guildhall Artist) degrees, both with distinction, from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music in the US. She has toured in over 25 countries throughout the world and performed with many well-known orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York String Orchestra.
As an active chamber musician in both baroque and modern instruments, Cheung constantly seeks ways to broaden the boundaries of the chamber music performance tradition. She has also given educational workshops in London and masterclasses in Hong Kong and the US.
Born in Taiwan, Chang Pei-chieh received her first cello lesson at the age of 10. She graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with a Master in Cello Performance degree. She was the winner in the String Quintet division at the Taiwan Academy of Arts Music Competition in 1998 and 1999, and the Canada-Taiwan String Quartet Competition in 2002. In the same year, she was granted a full scholarship to participate in a chamber music programme provided by the Taiwan Council of Culture Affairs, in which she was invited to perform in a concert entitled "2002 Young Voices from Taiwan" in Alice Tully Hall in New York.
Chang has collaborated with the New World Symphony Orchestra in Miami, the US, as well as the Taipei Century Symphony Orchestra and the Taipei Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. She has been the Principal Cello of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta since 2008.
Born in Taiwan, Sophia Yang went to New York to pursue her music studies at the Manhattan School of Music, majoring in piano performance and receiving her Bachelor's and Master's degrees. She then received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the City University of New York.
In 2009, Yang appeared as a soloist with the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra in the Taipei Concert Hall, and with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra in the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall. She was also invited to perform two Mendelssohn piano trios in a concert to commemorate the composer's bicentennial by the Hong Kong Kwang Hwa Information and Culture Center.
Hong Kong-born Ken So began his piano training at the age of five. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree at the Music and Fine Arts Department of the Hong Kong Baptist University in 2004. He then entered the professional diploma course and the master of music in performance programme of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. In 2007, he received the LRSM piano performance diploma from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.
"Debussy's Chamber Music" is part of the Debussy Year celebration programme presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Tickets priced at $110 and $160 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 25 per cent is offered for the "Our Music Talents" booking package.
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/00000404.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, September 21, 2012
Issued at HKT 11:59
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