| CITY RHYTHM is the newsletter of the CITY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA of Hong Kong (CCOHK) sent to Friends of the orchestra. ***************************************************************** Dear Friends of the CCOHK, Contents of This Issue A. Coming Events B. Spotlight C. Sounding Board D. Artist Scoop E. Music Amuses F. CD Corner G. Quiz
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ A. Coming Events In December the CCOHK will celebrate Christmas with Howard Blake's THE SNOWMAN and THE BEAR. These are captivating musical adaptations of Raymond Briggs' well-loved storybooks. THE SNOWMAN tells the tale of a young boy who builds a snowman one Christmas Eve. The snowman comes to life and takes the boy on a magical journey to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus. In THE BEAR a young girl named Tilly visits the zoo with her parents and accidentally drops her teddy bear into the bear exhibit. That night she awakens to find a huge polar bear standing in her bedroom. The bear returns her beloved teddy bear and then takes her on a fantastic bear-ride through the crisp Christmas night. The concert versions of these two magical wintertime stories have been made into popular animated films. THE SNOWMAN has won numerous awards and has been heralded as one of the best animated films of all time. In 1985 Aled Jones recorded its famous song "Walking in the Air " which rose to the top of the charts and made him a household name in the UK. The title song of THE BEAR "Somewhere a Star Shines " was recorded by Charlotte Church. The CCOHK will give the Hong Kong premiere of THE SNOWMAN and THE BEAR in its coming concert. The story will be narrated in Cantonese by Jim Chim, Associate Artistic Director of Theatre Ensemble and the soloists are Gabriel Ma (boy soprano) and Fiona Chan (girl soprano). Gabriel Ma currently attends South Island School and Yip's Choir. He studies singing with Nina Yip. Fiona Chan is a student at Wycombe Abbey School in London. She studies singing with Derek Anthony and was formerly a student at St. Paul's Co-Educational College in Hong Kong. Gabriel and Fiona were chosen from among 50 auditionees in Hong Kong. Here are the concert details: ***** THE SNOWMAN AND THE BEAR ***** Date : 14 December 2003 (Sunday) Time : 3:00 p.m. (Matinee) Venue : Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium Conductor : Anthony Inglis Story-teller : Jim Chim Boy Soprano : Gabriel Ma Girl Soprano : Fiona Chan Tickets $ 180 $ 120 $ 80 (with half-price concessions) Now available at all URBTIX outlets ----- Tel. No. : 2734 9009 Programme Enquiries : 2857 2402 For further details, please visit the following sites: http://www2.lcsd.gov.hk/cf/search/details.cfm?lang=en&id=18188 http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/eng/pgram_ticket/t_03nov/search_snow.html @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ B. Spotlight Interview with Ms. Hee-yon Lee, cellist of the CCOHK. Where are you from and how long have you been in Hong Kong? What do you enjoy most about playing in the CCOHK? Which CCOHK guest artist has made the biggest impression on you? Which CCOHK concert has been the most memorable for you? Why did you choose to learn the cello? How does the cultural scene in Hong Kong differ from that in Korea? You studied in Germany for some time. Could you tell us about your experience there? What message do you have for our friends? @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ C. Sounding Board Friends who attend our concerts and are successful in having their comments published will win 2 FREE tickets to one of our future events. In this issue we are pleased to share with you the following COMMENTS FROM OUR AUDIENCE MEMBERS who attended our "Opera Passion" concert on 30 September 2003: The two singers were outstanding, but the playing of the CCOHK this evening was also very elegant. Both the soloists and the orchestra merged harmoniously. The soprano was natural, elegant and had a wonderful voice. First-rate. Whether performing or accompanying, the orchestral players concentrated on the music and took their playing seriously. The singing and playing fused seamlessly under the leadership of Johnny Poon. The concert was most captivating and enjoyable. The choice of pieces and the arrangement were both excellent and unique. A fabulous performance! The title of tonight's programme - "Opera Passion" - already attracted those who loved operatic music (like me) to attend this concert. The orchestral members wore colourful evening gowns which brightened up the stage and the whole concert. The performance helped the audience to imagine different scenes through the style of its orchestral performance and the fantastic voices of the vocalists. The sentiments and the situations in the operas were expressed to the full. The final "Cat Duet" encore was most endearing. This was the first time I attended a live concert. Alison Pearce had a full, rich voice; and her singing was very lyrical. Mr. Anthony had a powerful, expressive voice; and his technique was refined. A performance of a high standard which brought unsurpassed pleasure. Soprano Alison Pearce and bass-baritone Derek Anthony were both excellent in terms of vocal technique and performance. Spectacular! Congratulations to these six friends, who have each won 2 FREE TICKETS to one of our future concerts. We will be in touch with you soon! @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ D. Artist Scoop Jim Chim is the Associate Artistic Director of Theatre Ensemble. Upon graduation from the School of Drama in the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 1990, he joined the David Glass Mime Ensemble, touring in Britain and studying mime on a grant from the British Council. In the following year he was awarded the Anglo Hong Kong Trust Scholarship, which allowed him to advance his acting and movement training with Philippe Gaulier and Monika Pagneux, two honoured theatre teachers in Europe. Since his return to Hong Kong, Mr. Chim has made outstanding achievements in directing, performing, physical movement and theatre training. With his own brand of humour, he has developed a distinctive performance style. He received Best Supporting Actor Award and Best Actor Award from the Hong Kong Federation of Drama Society in 1998 and 2000 respectively, and was presented with the first Dr ama Development Fellowship from Hong Kong Arts Development Council Drama Committee in 2000. Mr. Chim was previously the host of a number of programmes on the Children's Channel of Cable TV. He has also dubbed many of the Disney movies including Aladdin, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Lion King. Jim Chim will be the story-teller in the CCOHK concert entitled THE SNOWMAN AND THE BEAR on 14 December 2003. Don't miss this Hong Kong first! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Congratulations to Peter Leech, the conductor for the CCOHK's highly successful "Baroque by Candlelight " concert in January 2002! Mr. Leech, an Australian-born British choral and orchestral conductor, won first prize at the Mariele Ventre International Competition for Choral Conductors held in Bologna between 9 and 12 October 2003. Twelve conductors, selected out of forty eight applications from twenty countries, took part in the competition. Mr. Leech's award includes a cash prize, the Silver Cup of the Presidency of the Italian Republic and a guest appearance at the 2004 Ravenna Festival. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ E. Music Amuses Did you know that Howard Blake's "The Snowman" has practically frozen out other popular works and become the UK's favourite musical fare for children at Christmas? The concert version of "The Snowman" has been performed by orchestras worldwide from Japan to Canada and has elicited from The Independent, the British newspaper, the astounding comment that "The Snowman has well nigh frozen out Handel's Messiah as the nation's traditional Christmas musical fare". A stage show has also been created and is performed at London's West End each year with enormous success. Every year at Christmas, TV stations around the world (including ATV World in Hong Kong) screen the film, allowing families to enjoy this wonderful piece of seasonal tradition time and time again. What is its appeal? Christopher Palmer, writing in March 1990, says, "Since we have seen many excellent products which have come and gone and failed to reach a wider audience, The Snowman must have something special, something which touches a popular nerve. Looking at it, it is not too difficult to see what that 'something' is. It is the voice of innocence which has not been silenced or distorted by experience, but actually made more articulate by it." @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ F. CD Corner If you plan to do some Christmas shopping, here are some great gift ideas for you: CD of the soundtrack music composed by Howard Blake for the classic story THE SNOWMAN by Raymond Briggs Title : The Snowman +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Video of the classic story THE SNOWMAN by Raymond Briggs Title : The Snowman +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Video of the classic story THE BEAR by Raymond Biggs +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ All the products above are available at the on-line store Amazon.co.uk at : @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ H. Quiz Answer the quiz and win FREE concert tickets to our December concert. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Send your answers by email to maryanne@ccohk.com before NOON on 30 November 2003 (Sunday) together with your name, telephone number and postal address. The first TWO persons to submit the correct answers to all the questions together with his/her name, telephone number and postal address will win 2 FREE tickets to our THE SNOWMAN AND THE BEAR concert on 14 December 2003 (Sunday). @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ We hope you have enjoyed this newsletter. Do feel free to forward this newsletter to others so that they can join in the fun and win free concert tickets too! The editor of CITY RHYTHM is Mary Anne Pun. If you have any questions, please e-mail her at maryanne@ccohk.com @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ |
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