| 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 ***** VENETIAN DELIGHTS ***** Date : 15 and 16 January 2004 (Thursday and Friday) Starring Violin / Guest Concertmaster : Lorenzo Colitto Programme Details This concert features the most dazzling concertos Vivaldi composed for orphaned girls in eighteenth-century Venice. Benefits go to Mother's Love, a charitable organization affiliated with Mother's Choice which serves orphaned children in China today. Programme includes: Ticket Information *** Includes refreshments after the performance with proceeds to Mother's Love Students and senior citizens can enjoy a 50% discount Internet Booking : http://www.hkticketing.com/ Programme Enquiries : 2857 2402 OR info@ccohk.com @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ B. Spotlight Interview with Mr. Gilbert Sak, principal second violinist of the CCOHK. Where are you from and how long have you been in Hong Kong? How did you become interested in music whilst growing up in Hong Kong? How important is it in your opinion for a musician to study abroad? 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? You were once a producer / presenter on Radio 4 of RTHK. How did that come about? Name one of the most important milestones in your music career. What are your hobbies besides playing the violin? 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 TWO FREE TICKETS to one of our future concerts. In this issue we are pleased to share with you COMMENTS FROM OUR AUDIENCE MEMBERS who attended our "The Snowman and the Bear " concert on 14 December 2003. Thanks to your support, the concert was a sell-out. Here are comments from some of the audience members: The pairing in this performance was very innovative. Live music played by the CCOHK and vivid, ardent narration by Mr. Jim Chim combined to make the performance a tremendous success. Adults and children alike were completely immersed in every episode of the story. I hope that, in future, there will be more shows featuring the combination of different media. The narration by Jim Chim was really captivating. Coupled with the wonderful, live performance by the chamber orchestra, every detail came to life and left a lasting impression on me. Full house. Bustling atmosphere. The little girl's singing resembled the voice of an angel. The story was engaging. Very good. I could fully experience this story. In fact I felt I was part of it. The music of the Snowman portion was very pleasant. I'll probably remember it forever. I'd listen to it once more if I had the chance. Both works were performed magnificently. Jim's narration in Cantonese made the concert even more vivid and lively. Adults and children alike were able to understand fully the meaning of the music. There was not even one boring moment. In fact I didn't want to leave at the end of the concert. The melodies of the music were beautiful. Coupled with the singing and captivating story-telling, the concert brimmed with a festive Christmas spirit, charming all the children and adults present. The use of such an interesting form of expression allowed more children to hear and appreciate classical music. I believe this kind of event would sow seeds in children's hearts and cultivate their love for classical music! Tonight's performance was especially suitable for children. The story-telling part explained the music-playing part of the programme, thus enabling children to enter the world of music more easily. The singing by the boy and girl sopranos not only offered beautiful music for the audience to enjoy, but also served as encouragement and demonstration to the children: it helped the children understand that beautiful singing was not the special preserve of adults. This is the first time I attended a concert. It turned out to be better than I had expected. The story was very touching and jolly. All aspects of the concert were well integrated. The concert offered children and adults a happy and meaningful afternoon. Congratulations to these eight friends, who have each won TWO FREE TICKETS to one of our future concerts. We will be in touch with you soon! @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ D. Artist Scoop Lorenzo Colitto was born in Rome, Italy. As a baroque violinist, he has worked under the direction of almost all the leading baroque artists including Reinhard Goebel, Bernard Labadie, Andrew Parrott, Eduardo Lopez Banzo, Roy Goodman, Andrew Manze and Ton Koopman. For five years he was a member of Fabio Biondi's famed Italian ensemble "Europa Galante" with whom he recorded extensively and performed as one of the leaders and soloists with tours to Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South America and the USA. He has also appeared with several other world-renowned baroque ensembles such as Ensemble 415, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Concerto Italiano and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and as guest leader with Orquestra Barroca de Sevilla, the New York Collegium and the European Union Baroque Orchestra. Mr. Colitto's recordings can be found on the Virgin, EMI and Harmonia Mundi labels. The recordings of the Monteverdi madrigals book VIII with Concerto Italiano was awarded the "Best Baroque Music Recording" by nine European music magazines in 1999. Lorenzo Colitto will be the guest concertmaster and soloist in the CCOHK's upcoming VENETIAN DELIGHTS concert. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ E. Music Amuses Did you know that Vivaldi was born during an earthquake? On 4th March 1678 Vivaldi made a suitably dramatic entrance into the world. He was born in Venice during an earthquake - almost two months premature - and was in danger of death, so the midwife baptized him immediately. Little did his parents know that their weak and sickly son would one day make an earth-shattering effect on the world of classical music. Today Vivaldi is a superstar, the world's best-selling classical composer. Yet Vivaldi's most memorable music was not written for the pleasure of a rich monarch but for the advancement of a school of orphaned girls. His rise to fame is a tale worthy of the big screen. He learnt the violin from his father and showed exceptional musical talent at an early age. Born the eldest son of a poor family, he was destined for the priesthood. After being ordained he ceased to give mass due to health problems (possibly asthma). His musical abilities led to his engagement as both violin teacher and in-house composer at the Ospedale della Pieta for almost forty years. Later in his life Vivaldi moved to Vienna to pursue a career in writing opera but died as a pauper in an unmarked grave. Both his name and his music lay forgotten in libraries for well over two hundred years. Some of his music scores came into the possession of monks in northern Italy who sold them to raise mu ch needed cash for the restoration of their monastery. It is possible that many more works by Vivaldi are waiting somewhere to be rediscovered! Some of Vivaldi's most dazzling concertos will be featured in the CCOHK's upcoming VENETIAN DELIGHTS concert. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ F. CD Corner If you love Baroque music, then these two discs of Vivaldi's works should be in your collection! They also feature our guest artists!! Disc 1 Title : La tempesta di mare This CD is available at the on-line store Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Disc 2 Title : Virtuoso Recorder Concertos Further details of this disc are given at: http://www.richardharvey.net/discography/vivaldi.html This CD has received rave reviews from the "Gramophone" magazine. Richard Harvey's recorder playing is described as "breathtaking and exhilarating". Note : This disc is not available in Hong Kong, but will be available for sale at the CCOHK's upcoming VENETIAN DELIGHTS concert. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ H. Quiz Answer the quiz and win FREE concert tickets to our VENETIAN DELIGHTS concert. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Question 1 Question 2 (For answers to these questions please check our website: http://www.ccohk.com ) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Send your answers by email to maryanne@ccohk.com before NOON on 7 January 2004 (Wednesday) 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 TWO FREE TICKETS to our VENETIAN DELIGHTS concert on 15 January 2004 (Thursday). @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 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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