Music

A concert of new works inspired by Ya Si’s PoetryImages of Hong Kong is inspired by the anthology of snapshots of Hong Kong taken between 1973 and 1997 by the celebrated poet Leung Ping-kwan (Ya Si, 1949-2013). As his poems tap into issues of our cultural heritage and identity, so the anthology serves to remind us of the confluence of the East and West, and the tension between tradition and modernity in this city.Drawing upon selected poems by Leung, five internationally-engaged composers from Hong Kong seek to transform the transient poetic images into soundscapes. Electronic musician and audio-visual artist Choi Sai-ho, New-York based composer Ian Ng and Hong Kong-trained Joyce Tang are known for their ventures into pop, dance-theatre and film respectively. Galison Lau’s work reflects his flexibility in handling chamber ensembles of mixed types and sizes and Lam Lan-chee is equally adept in writing for both Chinese and Western medium and genres.Combining the timbres of Western and Chinese instruments acoustic and electronic sounds live music and video projection this concert invites exciting, new perspectives on our familiar surroundings. Commissioned and Produced by the Hong Kong Arts Festival