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Based in Hong Kong for over half of a century, the Hong Kong Oratorio Society (HKOS) will stage a concert entitled "Mendelssohn the Music Prodigy" in late September.
Under the batons of its music director, Professor Chan Wing-wah, and guest conductor Vivian Ip, and with the accompaniment of the Hong Kong Strings, the choir will collaborate with SKH Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School Choir and many local vocalists to perform Mendelssohn's "Die Erste Walpurgisnacht" and "St Paul: Part I". The vocalists to be featured in the concerts include Grace Chiang (soprano), Emily Liu (alto), Christopher Leung (tenor), Petrus Cheung (baritone) and Michael Lam (bass).
Founded in 1956, the HKOS is one of the most active choirs with a long history and large membership in Hong Kong. The choir has presented more than 300 concerts in the past 50 years. The repertoire of the HKOS covers oratorios and major choral works by classical and contemporary composers, and it presented many of these works in their Hong Kong premieres. The choir has performed under the batons of many famous conductors and with various orchestras. It has also gone on concert tours overseas and in many major cities in the Mainland. Professor Chan took over the baton after several successful collaborations with the HKOS starting in 1995.
Professor Chan Wing-wah has conducted the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Strings and orchestras in various Asian cities. He is a prolific composer of orchestral, chamber and choral works including hymns, children songs, dramas and film music. His international awards include First Prize in the International Double Reed Society Composition Contest in the United States, the Yoshiro Irino Memorial Award from the Asian Composers League and the 20th Century Masterpiece Award from the China Culture Promotion Society in Beijing. Professor Chan is now the Associate Director at the School of Professional and Continuing Education at the University of Hong Kong and the Head of its Centre for Creative and Performing Arts.
"Mendelssohn the Music Prodigy" is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. It will take place at 8pm on September 29 (Sunday) at the Auditorium of the Tsuen Wan Town Hall. Tickets priced at $80, $100 and $120 are now available at URBTIX outlets, on the Internet and by telephone credit card 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 available on a first-come, first-served basis). A maximum discount of 20 per cent is offered for the group booking package. Please refer to the programme leaflet for details.
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/program_319.html. Ticketing enquiries can be made on 2734 9009 and telephone credit card bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Thursday, August 29, 2013
Issued at HKT 11:16
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