More than 400 young musicians and choristers who participated in the 2019 Hong Kong Youth Music Camp will perform a Chinese and Western music repertoire in two concerts to be held in July and August to showcase their musical achievements.

     Presented by the Music Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the 2019 Hong Kong Youth Music Camp Concerts will be held at 8pm on July 28 and at 3pm on August 4 at the Concert Halls of the Hong Kong City Hall and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre respectively. The concerts will be conducted by internationally acclaimed maestros and are part of the summer programme International Arts Carnival 2019.

     The first concert will be performed by the camp's Junior Chinese Orchestra, Symphonic Band and Chinese Orchestra. Highlights of the programme will include Wang Danhong’s Song of Labour from "Redden Sorghum", which reveals the unremitting efforts of the people of northeast China to keep moving forward in life; Johan de Meij's selections from Symphony No.1 "The Lord of the Rings"; and the first and second movements of the dynamic and passionate "Ode to Mulan" by Zhang Yibing. The conductors will be the Conductor of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music Affiliated Secondary School Youth Chinese Orchestra, Liu Jie; the Former Associate Professor of Conducting of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, Dr Peter Ettrup Larsen; and the Resident Conductor of the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra and National Class One Conductor, Zhang Lie.

     The second concert will be conducted by the Professor of Conducting, Yale School of Music, USA and the Artistic Director to Yale International Choral Festival, USA, Dr Jeffrey Douma; the Associate Professor of Violin, University of Iowa School of Music, USA and featured artist at the conferences of the Music Teachers National Association and the Suzuki Association of the Americas, Dr Scott Conklin; and the Professor of Violin, Whitworth University, USA and Conductor of the Whitworth Orchestra, USA, Dr Philip Baldwin. Under their batons, the camp's Youth Choir, Senior Strings and Junior Symphony Orchestra will perform music pieces including Rachmaninoff's intensely expressive cappella chorus, Bogorodyitse Dyevo, from "All-Night Vigil", Op. 37; the world premiere of "Snow Ash" for Violin Solo and String Orchestra by contemporary composer Hu Ching-chu; and a classic piece by Sibelius, Finale from "Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43".

     The Hong Kong Youth Music Camp is a major annual summer activity of the Music Office which provides intensive training to musicians in a scenic campsite setting. Participants can also enjoy recreational and sports facilities at the camp.

     Tickets for the concerts priced at $55, $75 and $95 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2796 7523 or 3842 7784 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/mo/activities/2019hkymcc.html.

Ends/Friday, June 28, 2019
Issued at HKT 15:00

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