The Swire New Generation Pianathon, a fundraising piano marathon organized by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO), will be held on 26 August, Sunday, 1 to 7 pm in Cityplaza, Taikoo Shing, to promote the love of piano playing among the youths.
Aspiring pianists are encouraged to enroll in this event to gain stage experience. Three local award-winning pianists – Aristo Sham, Wong Wai Yin and Rachel Cheung – will also perform and share their experience with other participants at the Pianathon. Participants will each need to raise $300 or more and all proceeds go to the Young Audiences Scheme of the HKPO, which promotes appreciation of classical music among youths and encourages their participation in music-related community activities. Enrolment runs from 30 July (Monday) until 11 August (Saturday).
Apart from the Pianathon, the Hong Kong Philharmonic has lined up five Chinese pianists – Aristo Sham, Wong Wai Yin, Rachel Cheung, Chen Sa and Sun Yingdi – to perform the five Beethoven piano concertos within two days, under the direction of Edo de Waart. Beethoven + 5 Pianists is the first programme in the Swire New Generation Series, which showcases gifted young Chinese classical musicians. It will be held on 8 and 9 September (Saturday and Sunday), 3pm, at the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall. The five pianists will meet the audience after the concerts.
The five Beethoven concertos mark the path from youth to maturity for the composer. The youngest performer, Aristo Sham, will perform Piano Concerto No. 1. “I have already played the first movement with my school orchestra before and I am now learning the second and third movements,” said Aristo. “I like the third movement very much because it is light-hearted and rhythmic. Even though this movement is quite difficult, I love taking on challenges! I really look forward to this performance!”
Aristo Sham, Wong Wai Yin and Rachel Cheung are all outstanding students of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). Eleven-year-old Aristo Sham and fifteen-year-old Rachel Cheung are both students of Eleanor Wong, Artist-in-Residence and Senior Lecturer at the HKAPA, while fourteen-year-old Wong Wai Yin is a student of Gabriel Kwok, Head of the Keyboard Department. Aristo has won more than 20 awards so far, including First Prize of the Beethoven Piano Competition in 2004, and First Prize of Category A (under age 15) of the 10th Ettlingen International Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Germany. Rachel has won numerous prizes including the First Prize at the 2004 Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition in Salt Lake City and First Prize at the 5th International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in Ukraine in May 2003. Wai Yin is the youngest Gold Medal winner in the Intermediate Group (age 14 – 19) of the 7th International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz held in Ukraine earlier this year.
Both Chen Sa and Sun Yingdi are aspiring pianists in their twenties who are making a name for themselves in the international classical music scene. Both have performed with Edo de Waart and HKPO last season with great success – Chen Sa in Mozart’s 23rd and Yingdi in the Yellow River Concerto. A Crystal prize winner of the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Chen Sa has performed in various European capitals and collaborated with world-renowned maestros.
A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Chen Sa now resides in Germany and frequently returns to perform in her motherland, including the Beijing Music Festival. Yingdi was First Prize at the prestigious 7th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, which took place in Utrecht in the Netherlands, and now resides in Shanghai. Recently, Yingdi toured New Zealand with great success, and played in Utrecht, Weimar, Budapest and Paris at the “European Liszt Nights Festival” in November, 2006, winning critical acclaim. ('Sun was the only pianist who flawlessly performed Liszt’s gruesome octave jumps and maintained the tension in both pieces to the very end. -- www.hkpo.com
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