Posted on Tue, 23 Aug 2011

Music Maestros Gather In HK This October

This October, music fans in HK or those visiting the fragrant harbour are in for a treat as the 3rd Hong Kong Piano Competition and “The Joy Of Music” Festival coincide and take place from 16 October to 2 November, featuring a gathering of exceptional musical talent.

The Piano Competition features young pianist from all over the world, this year there are 44 candidates, judged by some of the leading pianists and musicians including world renowned pianist and conductor, Vladimir Ashkenazy.

The Music Festival will feature 5 separate concerts in cooperation with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Chamber Orchestra Group and performing are names like Tigran Allkhanov, Peter Frankl, Gary Graffman, Garrick Ohlsson, Cristina Oritz and Pascal Roge making the festival and performances an exceptional treat.

Performance Highlights:

Friday 21 October: Pianists Cristina Ortiz and Pascal Roge with guitarist Alvaro Pierri showcase rarely played duos for piano and guitar, with a guest appearance by Richard Bamping, principal cellist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

Thursday 25 October: Garrick Ohlsson will play a solo piano recital.

Monday 31 October: Solo piano performances by winner of the 2011 competition, and first prize winners of 2005 & 2008 competitions: Ilya Rashkovskiy and Jinsang Lee, respectively.

Tuesday 1 November: Pascal Roge and Cristina Ortiz will perform a piano trio and a piano quintet with the LCO Chamber Group: Andrew Haveron (violin), Magnus Johnston (violin), Joel Hunter (viola) and Pierre Doumenge (cello).

Wednesday 2 November: Spectacular Gala Performance with piano concertos by Gary Graffman, Tigran Alikhanov, Peter Frankl and Cristina Ortiz with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Piano and guitar master classes are being additionally conducted at both City Hall and Megabox inKowloon Bay, and are open to the public free of charge, with advance booking.

Also free with advance booking is a talk, titled ‘From Sigh to Scream’, by renowned musicologist and music critic Jeremy Siepmann, one of the jury members, at The Salisbury, The YMCA of Hong Kong, on October 31. The talk will focus on “the nature and source of melodic expression, and the piano’s nefarious role in obscuring it!”

Full details of the competition and performances may be found at the society’s website:www.chopinsocietyhk.org.

Ticketing:

Tickets for each of the 5 non-competition performances (‘The Joy of Music Festival Writ Large’) are available at HK$150, 250 and 350. (Discounts apply)

All stages of the Hong Kong International Piano Competition are open to the public. Tickets sold as DAY PASSES (allowing entrance to any/all performances taking place on the date marked in the day pass) or as ROUND PASSES (allowing entrance to any/all performances taking place during each specified round of the competition.

FIRST ROUND	DAY PASS	HK$ 50
	ROUND PASS	HK$ 200
SECOND ROUND	DAY PASS	HK$ 100
	ROUND PASS	HK$ 200
THIRD ROUND	DAY PASS	HK$ 150
	ROUND PASS	HK$ 250
FOURTH ROUND	DAY PASS	HK$ 200
	ROUND PASS	HK$ 450