Music

Local dizi and xiao artist Yeung Wai-kit will show his skills by playing a variety of compositions at a recital in June. “Dizi and Xiao Recital by Yeung Wai-kit” is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) as part of its Our Music Talents Series.

The recital will feature dizi and xiao pieces composed over three decades by composers from the Mainland, Malaysia and Hong Kong. The programme will comprise unique works from the southern and northern Chinese musical schools as well as newly commissioned works created by Hong Kong and Malaysia composers and modern concertos. Both local and south Asian musical styles will be showcased to demonstrate the diversity of dizi and xiao music.

The programme will include dizi solos accompanied by piano in “Weeping Flowers”, “The Fragrance of Red Citrus” (Hong Kong Premiere), “Broken Bridge in the Snow” (premiere of piano accompaniment version) and “The Butterfly Dream”; the dizi solo, accompanied by piano and hand drum, “Love of Eagles”; and two world premiere commissioned compositions, “New Five-piece Combo”and “Unfettered”.

Born in Hong Kong with ancestral roots in Guangdong Puning, Yeung has learnt dizi with Cheung Heung-wah, Li Zhen, Zeng Yongqing, Huang Jincheng, Sun Yongzhi, Jiang Guoji and Ma Di. He was awarded a bachelor of arts degree with first-class honours and a master of philosophy degree in ethnomusicology by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and a Master of Music degree in dizi performance by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). Yeung is also the first Dizi Performance Master Graduate in Hong Kong. After receiving a number of awards and scholarships at school, he attained his doctoral degree in dizi performance at the China Conservatory in 2015 under the guidance of Zhang Weiliang, and became the first dizi performance doctoral graduate in China.

Yeung teaches concurrently at the HKAPA and the Music Department of the CUHK. He is on the Honorary Committee of the Professional Committee for Dizi of China Nationalities Orchestra Society and the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Bamboo Flute Society, as well as being an examiner of Hong Kong Arts Development Council and an overseas member of the Artistic Resource Panel of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.