“I want to make sure audiences understand they’re witnessing interaction between musicians… We’re letting them ‘in on it’ to see something that they’re not gonna see tomorrow night.”
—Chris Botti
“A musical alchemist who tastefully mixes genres for his own brand of fusion” Associated Press

“Virtuosic trumpet work… inventive melody-making… engaging onstage presence” Los Angeles Times

“Cool, elegant romanticism” The Washington Post

“You see a star a mile off” Sting

INTRODUCTION

He is the complete package: a versatile musician who excels in diverse genres from jazz to pop to rock, a consummate performer who has shared the stage with some of the world’s top musicians, and a born showman with a captivating on-stage presence.

Come and meet Chris Botti – America’s top-selling instrumental artist, a regular at the top of the Billboard album charts and a Grammy Award winner with a form of creative expression that goes way beyond the limit of any single music genre. From transformational jazz standards to irresistible interpretations of pop classics, Botti’s appeal has proved boundless.

His sound is warm, velvety, majestic and sure. Whether heard in small combos at the White House or backed by major orchestras in Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Sydney Opera House or Teatro di San Carlo in Italy, Botti’s music breathes romance, sophistication and style. Not to mention the stellar artists that he has performed and recorded with – Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma, Sting, Barbara Streisand, Paul Simon, Steven Tyler, Andrea Bocelli, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, Michael Bublé, and even Frank Sinatra.

Born to an Italian father and American concert-pianist mother, Botti committed to the trumpet at 12 after hearing Miles Davis playing My Funny Valentine. That one recording inspired the love of melody, space and balance that underpins his soaring musical imagination.

Irresistibly charming, Chris Botti is firmly established as one of the most important and innovative figures in the contemporary music world today. Don’t miss this jazz-pop powerhouse with his eight-piece band in Hong Kong.

Rich with wonderful poetry, this acclaimed new version by leading Scottish dramatist David Greig vividly re-tells a story of the plight of migrants, morals and human rights, democracy, and ultimately the triumph of love. It asks who we are, where we belong, and if all goes wrong, who will take us in? It could not be more relevant in today’s world.

From Wild West to Middle East with New York and Slovenian avant garde

“At a time when even Off Off Broadway productions seem infatuated with technology and spectacle, they animate the theatre with a bravura physicality” The New York Times

INTRODUCTION

Part barn dance, part Spaghetti Western movie-pitch, part thriller and slapstick comedy, Pursuit of Happiness starts in a Wild West saloon and ends on the battlefields of Iraq.

Admirers of New York’s OBIE Award-winning Nature Theater of Oklahoma (NTO) will know to expect the unexpected, and the very best in contemporary performance.

In this genre-bending show that jumps between theatre, dance and live art the company combines with performers from Slovenia’s cult EnKnapGroup to create an endlessly morphing folk tale of ultra-violent Western expansion. It confronts the myth and legacy of the American dream, no holds barred. Notable characters and scenes include a Mexican barman, an Austrian sales rep for modern day magic potions, a trip to Baghdad and some disturbingly high-spirited cowboy dances.

The title refers to the three inalienable rights set out in the American Declaration of Independence; ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’. As Donald J Trump vows to ‘make America great again’, the show’s six characters set out in true gold-digger style in search of their own happiness, albeit in unusual and unfavourable circumstances.

Founded by its artistic directors Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper, Nature Theater of Oklahoma explodes out of the confines of established performance genres. Its work is always full of humour, rigour, seriousness and dynamism – and the audience plays an essential role, whether as spectators or participants. It shifts our perception of everyday reality.

EnKnapGroup is Slovenia’s only permanent contemporary dance company. Founded by Iztok Kovac in 1993 in Ljubljana, it has a repertoire of over twenty five productions, and works with many Slovene and international choreographers and directors, at home and abroad.

The collaboration of these two pioneering groups in Pursuit of Happiness has produced a show that has left critics breathless. In the words of the Netherlands’ Theaterkrant newspaper, “it generates an orgy of images, memories and emotions in the hearts and minds of its audience”.

Don’t miss it! It might just change your life.

Choreographer, dancer, designer, writer, installation and visual artist – Saburo Teshigawara is one of the all-round greats in the world of contemporary performance. He began his creative career in Tokyo in 1981, going on to form his world-famous company KARAS four years later. Teshigawara both directed and designed Turandot for the 1999 Edinburgh Festival, has made films and videos, and top dance. houses Paris Opera Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater have all commissioned his work for their repertoire. His huge collection of professional honours stretches back decades with four Japan Dance Critic Awards, the Munich Dance Critic Award in 1993, and the New York Dance and Performance Award in 2007. He has been awarded France’s prestigious cultural distinction of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2017.

Estonia achieved independence following the “Singing Revolution”, a name that reveals much about the nation’s strong choral tradition. The Estonian National Male Choir is one of the largest professional men’s choruses in the world, and has contributed to the Estonian choral tradition for more than 70 years. With a repertoire spanning from the Renaissance to contemporary music, and a specialism for showcasing lesser-known Estonian works to a wider audience, the Choir has also premiered compositions by luminaries including Dmitri Shostakovich. The choir also works closely with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, together winning the 2004 Best Choral Performance Grammy Award for a collaborative Sibelius recording. Known as a “tireless champion of Scandinavian music” (Nordic Council Music Prize), the Finnish maverick Leif Segerstam defies all traditional classifications of conductor, composer and musician. Author of over 300 symphonies and laureate of the highly-esteemed Sibelius Medal and the Finnish State Prize for Music, Segerstam has collaborated with world-renowned orchestras and opera companies over many years in his own distinctive way – a pulsating style, Dionysian vitality and an immensely addictive approach to music-making.

Much-loved works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Saint-Saëns played by the renowned Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra together with two of the most sought-after soloists of their generation – the Hong Kong pianist Rachel Cheung and the French cellist Gautier Capuçon. Mozart’s light-hearted “Haffner” Symphony and Schubert’s Fifth Symphony are favourites of Switzerland’s Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, resident at the Verbier Festival since its foundation in 2005. The orchestra’s superb reputation has attracted leading conductors and led to worldwide tours; since 2007 its music director has been Gábor Takács-Nagy, winner of both the Liszt Prize and Pizzicato Magazine’s Excellencia Prize. Takács-Nagy is also Music Director of the Manchester Camerata and Principal Guest Conductor of the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

“What’s real to me is the moment before one pre-hears music, before the imagination transforms to sounds.”
—Evelyn Chang
“What’s real to me is the moment on stage when my soul is exposed and all my emotions are revealed. In that moment, my world is innocent and pure like a child, but at the same time it is rational and calm like an old man.”
—Wong Wai-yin
“When telepathy happens between us, that’s the moment how we perceive the spectrum of REAL.”
—Duo Ping; Ting
Over a century of inspiration across cultures and aesthetic

INTRODUCTION

This concert offers a chance to enjoy some of the most noteworthy French and Chinese piano music from the beginning of the 20th century, with a screening of Edgard Varèse: The One All Alone to help place the relationship between these two artistic cultures in context, revealing fascinating connections.

In the formative decades of the 20th century, respected Chinese composers He Luting and Jiang Wenye were strongly influenced by the new techniques and sensibilities of Debussy and the French Impressionist movement.

One of their students, Chou Wenchung, was based in America and was also a protégé of Frenchman Edgar Varèse, influential pioneer of “timbre” and electronic music.

In turn, Chou’s students Zhou Long, Chen Yi and Tan Dun became outstanding composers in their own right, for all three Chinese folk music was an important reference.

In France, Chen Qigang was Olivier Messiaen’s last pupil, described as displaying “a total assimilation of Chinese thinking to European musical concepts”.

Joyce Tang and Lawrence Lau represent the new voices of Hong Kong today; their prolific works in instrumental and electronic media have formed an ever-growing force.

Relish some of Hong Kong and Taiwan’s most distinguished pianists paying tribute to these shared French and Chinese musical sensibilities.

PROGRAMME

6pm-7:30pm | Screening
Edgard Varèse: The One All Alone (2009)
Directed by Frank Scheffer
90mins, in English with English and Chinese subtitles

The One All Alone by Frank Scheffer is an expedition into the life and work of the French-American composer Edgard Varèse (1883-1965). The full-length documentary includes rare footage of Varèse, and interviews with Pierre Boulez and Elliott Carter. Chou Wenchung is interviewed in Varèse’s New York City home, and discusses the influence of his former teacher on site in Shanghai and Santa Fe. Musical performances feature Italian conductor Riccardo Chailly, who offers an inimitably informed impression of the composer’s adventurous sense of musical expression.

8pm | Piano Concert
He Luting
Evening Party
The Cowherd’s Flute
Wong Wai-yuen

Jiang Wenye
Bagatelles
Wong Wai-yuen

Chou Wenchung
The Willows Are New
Wong Wai-yin

Jolivet
Mana, six pieces for piano
Wong Wai-yin

Joyce Tang
Images, Colors
Evelyn Chang

Tan Dun
Eight Memories in Color, Op 1
Evelyn Chang

Lawrence Lau
Towards a Mirror for two pianos
Duo Ping & Ting

Chen Yi
China West Suite for two pianos
Duo Ping & Ting

Zhou Long
Pianogongs
Evelyn Chang

Chen Qigang
Instant d’un opéra de Pékin
Evelyn Chang

Debussy
Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune for two pianos
Wong Wai-yin and Wong Wai-yuen

“The performance with historical instruments approach us to the natural discourse of music. In the past the Art of Sound was a real way of communication, closely related to language, to the rhetorical resources of humanity.”
—Eduardo López Banzo
Long-lost Baroque pieces brought to life: Cantadas by José de Torres

“Entirely delectable sounds” ★★★★★ BBC Music Magazine

“Beautifully performed” ★★★★ The Guardian

“Always lively and inventive” Gramophone

INTRODUCTION

On Christmas Eve 1734, fire devastated Madrid’s Royal Palace. The blaze destroyed scores written by organist and Royal Chapel music director José de Torres (1670-1738), who performed his celebrated “cantadas” there each week.

Fortunately, all was not lost. Copies of his compositions had previously been sent to the furthest reaches of Spain’s empire in the Americas to form the “modern” repertoire of its churches. It is these treasures that have now become the speciality of Al Ayre Español, an ensemble which now brings this rich sacred repertoire to Hong Kong.

José de Torres is famous for having transformed the Italian cantata form, combining it with Spanish folk idioms and dance and creating the “cantada española”. The programme also features work by Corelli, master of the trio sonata and an important influence on Torres as one of the Baroque era’s best known violinists and composers. Two other important composer-musician contemporaries also feature: lutenist Giovanni Romano and organist/harpsichordist Joan Cabanilles, the man considered to be the Spanish Bach.

Al Ayre Español was founded in 1988 by one of today’s greatest harpsichordists, Eduardo López Banzo, a former student of early keyboard master Gustav Leonhardt. The pre-eminent exponent of Spain’s rich baroque music tradition, the ensemble regularly appears in the world’s great music centres. In 2004 it won the Spanish National Music Award for preserving Spain’s musical heritage, while its recording honours include the ECHO Klassik “Best Baroque Group of the Year” and Gramophone Magazine’s “Editor’s Choice” award. Joining them as vocal soloist is distinguished Spanish soprano, Verónica Plata.

PROGRAMME

José de Torres
Cantada al Santísimo, Oh, quién pudiera alcanzar*

Corelli
Sonata da Chiesa, No 12, Op 3

José de Torres
Cantada a Nuestra Señora, María en ese Cielo*

José de Torres
Cantada al Nacimiento, Divino hijo de Adán*

Giovanni Z. Romano
Sonate d’intavolatura di leuto, Op 1

Joan Cabanilles
Tiento de segundo tono

Joan Cabanilles
Gallardas

José de Torres
Cantada a Nuestra Señora, A el abismo de gracia*

*with soprano Verónica Plata

Set against the backdrop of Han-Chu contention in the final years of the Qin dynasty (206-202BCE), Farewell My Concubine gives a stirring portrayal of Xiang Yu, the King of Chu. As the once triumphant warlord falls to the forces of Liu Bang, the King of Han who is aided by general Han Xin, Xiang Yu and his beloved Concubine Yu Ji meet their end in a heart-rending separation at the close of Battle of Gaixia (202BCE). Premiered as a HKAF commission in 1995 to wide acclaim, Farewell My Concubine makes a highly anticipated return after 23 years featuring two inimitable stars as the hegemon king. Yau Sing-po, hailed as the greatest interpreter of Xiang Yu in Cantonese opera, reprises his role and performs it in parallel with the consummate veteran Law Kar-ying in alternate scenes.

“Trios for violin, cello and piano hold a prominent place in the chamber music repertoire. Unlike with string quartets, piano trios can bring together three soloists animated by a common passion.”
—Roland Pidoux
The enduring musical rapport of three French masters

“Polish, vigor and an exemplary sense of style” The Washington Post

“Without individual vanity and with an innate sense of well-proportioned sound” Le Figaro

“An unforced beauty” Musical Toronto

INTRODUCTION

More than half a century ago, these three French artists were students together at the Paris Conservatoire. Today, they are in great demand both as soloists and as a trio, described by the Toronto Star as “magicians on stage casting an exquisite spell”.

The first concert tour that Jean-Claude Pennetier, Régis Pasquier and Roland Pidoux embarked on together took place in Belgium, each aged only 13. These three exceptional musicians have won multiple Diapason d’Or and Choc Classica awards as soloist, as duet and as trio, as well as glittering prizes at leading concours such as Victoires de la Musique (“Best Soloist” for violinist Régis Pasquier) and the Gabriel Fauré Competition (first prize for pianist Jean-Claude Pennetier). Each has performed with world-renowned orchestras and musicians, including Isaac Stern, Pierre Fournier and Mstislav Rostropovich, while the trio has toured together all over Europe and America since the 1990s.

For their Hong Kong debut, Trio Pennetier Pasquier Pidoux offers three substantial yet very different works by Haydn, Fauré and Beethoven. As a fresh opener, Haydn’s trio contrasts with the darker work by Fauré, who was suffering from increasing deafness during his last years. Beethoven’s famous trio, a ground-breaking piece for its time dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, ends the concert in a dazzling show of virtuosity.

Join these French musical masters as they showcase a special, lifelong musical connection.

PROGRAMME

Haydn
Piano Trio in C major, Hob XV:27

Fauré
Piano Trio in D minor, Op 120

Beethoven
Piano Trio No 7 in B-flat major, Op 97, “Archduke”