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Raymond Au and his Flamenco Group "El Duende" will perform next month (March) in a concert showcasing Flamenco guitar music, songs and dance.
The programme includes Flamenco guitar solo "Gypsy Soul", duo "The Carnival" and trio "Nocturne of Malaga". There are also Flamenco vocal and dance performances.
Raymond Au graduated from the Centro Flamenco of Cordoba in Spain in 1983. He was one of seven guitarists to attend the master class given by Paco Pe?a. He was on the adjudicating panel of all the guitar competitions in China, and was listed in "Who's Who in the Guitar World" of the Chinese guitar magazine, "Friends of the Guitar", in 1994. Au has been dedicated to grooming newcomers in this art form. Over the years, he has formed the Los Pitos, Passion Flamenca and the El Duende Guitar Trio.
In 2005, he was invited by the Cultural Institute of Macau to appear in a concert with the Macau Orchestra in the 19th Macau International Music Festival.
El Duende Flamenco Group was formed with the aim of promoting Flamenco in its orthodox tradition and creating music with local character. Apart from guitar performance (toque), the group also performs Flamenco singing (cante) and dance (baile) to present all facets of the Flamenco culture. The group members include Raymond Au (toque/cantor), Simon Cheng (toque/percussion), Sunny Kwok (toque/cantor), Sylvia Siu (toque) and Mia Mei (baile/cantor).
The concert, presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, will be staged at 8pm, March 17 (Saturday) at the Theatre, Sheung Wan Civic Centre. Tickets are priced at $120 and $80.
Before the performance, Raymond Au will host "Talks on the Flamenco Guitar" at 7.30pm every Wednesday from February 28 to March 14, at the Lecture Hall, Hong Kong Space Museum. The talks feature an introduction to the background and techniques of playing the Flamenco guitar, form and rhythm (comps) of Flamenco guitar music and Flamenco guitar ¡ª music-making and music-healing. Tickets for each talk are $30. For group booking discount, please refer to programme leaflets for details.
For programme enquiries, call 2268 7321; for ticketing enquiries and reservations call 2734 9009. Internet bookings are available at www.urbtix.hk. For credit card telephone bookings, call 2111 5999. Visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp for more information on the programme.
Ends/Thursday, February 22, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:08
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