Under the artistic direction of the legendary veteran Kabuki artist Tamasaburo Bando, taiko drumming group Kodo will present “Dadan 2015” in late October to provide a fresh take on taiko drumming with innovative staging. Performed by an all-male troupe, the programme summons up immense power from within to push physique, percussion techniques and emotive resonance to the highest realms. It juxtaposes traditional taiko artistry with new motifs, thunderous bombardment and sudden tranquillity to deliver a muscular musical experience that offers a primordial and strikingly touching encounter with the inner self.

“Dadan” was greeted with overwhelming acclaim at its European premiere in 2012. Since then, it has continued to evolve, displaying in each show a pulsating tribute to the timeless call of the taiko drum.

Kodo spends one-third of the year at home on Sado Island and the rest on tour. The group has performed more than 5,500 shows in nearly 50 countries since its establishment in 1981, appearing in prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Time Out in the UK praised the performance for its “dynamic, electrifying vision”, and the Chicago Tribune wrote, “Superlatives don’t really exist to convey the primal power and bravura beauty of Kodo.”

“Dadan 2015” is one of the programmes of the World Cultures Festival – A Decade of Exquisite Arts. It will be held at 8pm on October 30 and 31 at the Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium.

Los Texmaniacs, a 2009 Grammy Award winner for Best Tejano Album, will rock Hong Kong audiences in November. The band’s Tex-Mex music draws on the authentic musical traditions of south Texas and near the Mexican border and infuses them with heavy doses of contemporary rock, blues, country and R&B.

Los Texmaniacs’ style of conjunto (meaning “ensemble” in Spanish) has both delighted young audiences and garnered recognition by Smithsonian Folkways, a record label dedicated to documenting and preserving American roots music. The group has recorded three critically acclaimed albums for the label, including “Borders y Bailes”, which won the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Tejano Album. Its live performances, as well as frequent radio and television appearances, have served a huge helping of genuine Tex-Mex culture to audiences around the world.

The Washington Post has praised the quartet for “energising the allure of South Texas conjunto music”, adding that its music is “infectious enough to get even the most sedentary crowd moving”.

Los Texmaniacs was founded in 1997 by Max Baca, a veteran member of the legendary Texas Tornados. Baca is a singer and prominent performer of the bajo sexto (a 12-string guitar-like instrument). Joining him in the show will be Josh Baca playing accordion, Noel Hernandez playing bass guitar and Cougar Estrada playing the drums.

“Los Texmaniacs” is one of the programmes of the World Cultures Festival – A Decade of Exquisite Arts. It will be held at 8pm on November 7 at the Kwai Tsing Theatre Auditorium.

The Chieftains, led by renowned Irish uilleann piper Paddy Moloney, will stage a not-to-be-missed concert in mid-November at Hong Kong City Hall.

Praised by the Guardian in the UK as “the world’s best-loved Irish folk band”, the Chieftains have released more than 40 albums and earned numerous accolades over the past half-century, including six Grammy Awards spanning traditional and contemporary categories. Through frequent tours, Moloney and his remarkable group have placed Irish folk music and its heritage firmly on the world map.

The versatile musicians have played on the Great Wall of China, at the United States Capitol, and for Pope John Paul II on his visit to Ireland. They have also shared the stage with many other music greats, including Luciano Pavarotti, Bob Dylan, Sinéad O’Connor, Herbie Hancock, Mick Jagger and Akiko Yano. Named Ireland’s Musical Ambassadors by the Irish government, the group has even included space in its cultural orbit by performing with NASA astronauts.

In this concert, Moloney and long-term partners Matt Molloy on flute and bodhrán player-vocalist Kevin Conneff will be joined by a dazzling line-up of musicians on harp, fiddle and guitar, as well as vocalists and step dancers, to conjure up a night of soaring Irish melodies.

Queen of African music and three-time Grammy Award winner

Two cutting-edge Hong Kong musicians, guitarist Teriver Cheung and composer Fung Lam, will combine for the first time in an intriguing jazz-classical crossover concert billed as a cinematic musical journey.

In the concert “Hong Kong Episodes” the two musicians will seek to explore Hong Kongs unique charms. With new scores written by them collaboratively and video images by architect Anthony Lai, the concert uses evocative imagery to draw up different “chapters” of this unique metropolis in the course of a virtual day – its colourful cosmopolitan cityscape, fast-paced lifestyle, its quiet areas for spiritual retreat and its localised heritage and culture.

Yue Opera Excerpts:
In Love with the Country – Delivering the Letter
A Dream of Red Mansions – Baoyu’s Nocturnal Sacrifice
A Dream of Red Mansions – Burning the Manuscripts
A Dream of Red Mansions – Mourning Daiyu
Trials of Love – Catching Wang Kui Alive
The Legend of Li Wa – Blinded for Love
Love with a Fairy Carp – The Study

Life/in/drama/in/life,

Chance encounters/encounter/chances.
Award-winning Off-Broadway comedy’s Hong Kong premiere

Exceedingly big-hearted drama teacher Marty is starting a short course in creative theatre at the local community centre. Try as she may, she only manages to find four students to join: a carpenter and a divorcee, an almost famous actress, a high school girl who seems to struggle with communication, and Marty’s own husband, each bringing a unique story of life into the classroom. As the games in drama classes come closer to reality, these people also begin to understand and open up to each other more. Has the stage been turned into reality, or is real life becoming a drama?

Set in the turbulent late Tang dynasty, “A Poet’s Lament” is a tragic romance telling of the rocky life and scholarly integrity of renowned poet Li Shangyin. The work features a star-studded cast, including Qian Huili, Wang Zhiping and Huang Hui, drawn from various Yue opera schools. It has been lauded as lead singer Qian’s breakthrough performance.

The romantic tragedy involving Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai has become a folk legend and an immensely popular part of Chinese theatrical repertoire. The Yue Opera adaptation starring Fan Ruijuan and Fu Quanxiang is often seen as the most outstanding. Every scene and line are regarded as classics, delivered in performances that moved the hearts of tens of thousands of viewers.

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the company, this hallmark work has now been revived, starring Zhang Ruihong and Chen Ying, protegees of Fan and Fu. Having worked together for over 30 years, Zhang and Chen display superb synergy and authenticity, at the same time injecting fresh vitality to the Yue Opera tour de force. With newly designed sets, lighting and costumes, the absorbing masterpiece is brought elegantly into the present while gracefully retaining its traditional ambience. A timeless operatic gem not to be missed!

Concubine Zhen Huan longs for freedom but is destined to spend her days struggling to survive poisonous politics and power games in the imperial palace. Caught between the emperor and his brother, she starts to lose her way with true love…