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2010 Chinese Music Festival, Edmonton, Canada – May 21 to May 26
"Bonne Musique" in Edmonton
Description of the Visiting Orchestra
Hong Kong
1. The Hong Kong New Territories Women and Juvenile
Welfare Association Leung Sing Tak Primary School Chinese Orchestra
The Hong Kong New Territories Women and Juvenile Welfare
Association Leung Sing Tak Primary School Chinese Orchestra were first
established in 1984 and it is trained and directed by teacher Mr. Ng Chiu Shing.
Since its establishment, it has been active both inside and outside of the
school district. The Orchestra was invited to perform as guest performers in
many public functions and has maintained a very good reputation and fame. The
Orchestra is enthusiastically supported by the parents and the general public.
The Orchestra had performed in many cities in China in the
past. It had also performed in Singapore and Canada. In the many Inter-School
student music competitions, the Orchestra had obtained numerous prizes in both
group and solo performances. In June, 1999, the HK Chief Executive Mr. Tung Chi
Wah visited Taipo District and enjoyed a performance by the Orchestra and
praised its achievements.
In January 2001, the Orchestra participated in the Beijing
First Children Orchestra Invitational Competition and obtained the “Star Trophy
“award. In 2002, the Orchestra performed in Singapore and received great
accolade. In August 2005, the Leung Sing Tak Chinese Orchestra participated in
the Beijing Third youth Orchestra Invitational and obtained the “Sunshine (First
Class) “Trophy, organization trophy and Director Trophy.
Taiwan
2.Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra
The Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra was founded in
October 2000 by the Music Director. Chih-Sheng Chen, and a group of young
musicians who are both enthusiasts of Chinese art, as well as professionally
accomplished players. The instrumentation of the orchestra consists essentially
of two groups of instruments-Si Zhu: ‘ Si ’, or ’ silk ’ string instruments, and
‘ Zhu ‘, or ‘ bamboo ‘ wind instruments. The musicians of the orchestra are
dedicated to contributing to the spread of Chinese music throughout the world.
In 2002, the orchestra organized a series of concert tours
in which 70 musicians took part, including its debut concert ‘Peony Pavilion –
Xun-Fa Yu’s Dizi Art’ This debut was not only widely celebrated, but also
praised as a ‘miracle’ of this youth orchestra. This performance won the
attention of experts on Chinese music and gave rise to the symposium ‘The
Direction of Development of the State Orchestra – inspiration from an Amateur
orchestra.
In 2004 the orchestra went on two concert tours: ‘A Series
of Concerts Passing on the Touch between Taiwan and China’, and ‘A Series of
Concerts for Young musicians’. These included numerous collaborations with
Chinese instrument soloists: among others Xun-Fa Yu (dizi). His-Rong Wang (pipa),
Ke-Mei Jiang (banhu), Jiang-Bin Liu (suona). Tze-You Lin (suona). Ying
Wang(erhu), Hui Lee(percussion), Wei-Wei Lan(pipa), Ming-Yu Wang (erhu), etc.
The orchestra was also selected for the ‘Taipei Traditional Festival’ organized
by the Taipei Municipality, performing a Si-Zhu chamber concert in the Taipei’s
municipal Zhoung-Shan Hall.
In 2005 the little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra was
selected for support and development by the Taiwan Council for Culture Affairs.
It has also received admiration and financial support from the Taiwan Ministry
of Education, the Taiwan Council for Cultural Affairs, the National Centre for
Traditional Arts, the Taipei City Government Department of Culture Affairs, and
the National Culture and Arts Foundation.
In several years of training and practice, the Little Giant
Chinese Chamber orchestra has matured into an ensemble of both technical and
artistic proficiency, and represents a new generation in the history of the
Chinese orchestra. With every performance it hopes to demonstrate the energy
and passion of the new generation of Taiwanese musicians in order to breathe new
life into the deeply-rooted art form of Chinese music.
Canada
3. Pentatonics - B.C. Chinese
Orchestra
The B.C. Chinese Music Association (BCCMA) was formed in
1995 by enthusiastic Chinese music lovers who wished to promote Chinese music
within our multicultural society. It provides a platform for Chinese music
lovers and promotes Chinese music in the wider community. Its aim is to share
Chinese musical culture with others to increase Canada’s understanding of
Chinese culture through music.
The BCCMA is fortunate to have Honorary President Mr. S.K.
Lee, Honorary Patron Dr. Paul C.H. Wong, and Honorary Advisors: Mr. Ni-Chung
Kwan, Mr. Cheng-Fu Liu, Professor Alan Thrasher, Mr. Leung-Tak Tong, Mr. Hui-Chang
Yan and Mr. Cheng-Long Zhou for guidance and support in achiving the
association’s goals with professionalism.
The B.C. Chinese orchestra (BCCO) has been performing
regularly in various culture, festive, and charitable events for the community.
The B. C. Chinese Music Ensemble (BCCME) and the B.C. Youth Chinese Orchestra (BCYCO)
were formed to introduce virtuosos and to train young musician respectively.
The BCCMA has organized lectures, master classes,
instrument exhibitions, seasonal concerts, and fundraising concerts. It
coordinated with the Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festival to help host the <Chinese
Ethnic Instruments Classes> competition since 2001. It also collaborated with
the Central Conservatory of Music, China to host the <overseas Chinese
Instruments Grate Examination> from 2006 in Canada.
The BCCMA is a designated charitable organization and a
not-for-profit music society concentrating on the promotion of Chinese music
culture and related activities. Your participation and support are most
welcome.
4. Toronto Chinese Orchestra
Toronto Chinese Orchestra is a no-profit organization
established in 1993 by a group of Chinese traditional music enthusiasts. We are
the largest Chinese orchestra in Ontario and the longest running in Canada. Our
members include professional and amateur musicians trained in Asia as well as
Canada. Our purpose is to promote and develop an appreciation of Chinese
orchestra music and culture amongst Canadians. For over 15 years, TCO has
continued to be a strong presence in this multicultural community. In addition
to performing in many concerts, TCO holds educational workshop in school,
participates in community fundraising events, cultural events, festivals, and
celebrations across Ontario.
5. The Yellow River Ensemble
The Yellow River Ensemble is a professional Chinese music
troupe that performs traditional and contemporary Chinese music on Chinese
instruments such as the dizi (transverse bamboo flute), zhonggruan (moon
guitar), hulusi (gourd based reed instrument), gaohu (high-pitched bowed lute),
erhu (python-skin bowed lute),guzheng (Chinese zither/harp), xiao (vertical
bamboo flute), and various percussion instruments. The group has been carefully
constructed from the best professional Chinese musicians in the region including
faculty from York University and Toronto’s music departments, prolific soloists,
and leading members of the Toronto Chinese Orchestra. Members of the ensemble
have performed across Canada, the United States, Poland, Britain, Hong Kong,
Singapore, and mainland China, and for dignitarics such as the former president
elect of Poland Stanislaw Taminski . Their performances have been broadcast
across China on CCTV. This pedigree has helped to develop the Yellow River
Ensemble’s reputation as one of the best Chinese music ensembles in the
country.
The Yellow River Ensemble plays under the leadership of Dr.
Kim Chow-Morris, an internally performing dizi virtuoso, and one of the leading
Chinese music performers in Canada. Zhongruan and percussion player Jaro
Dabrowski, erhu and gaohu performer Patty Chan, and guzheng and percussion
player Miriam Sue, each of whom possess active performing careers, round out the
group.
The Yellow River Ensemble provides music both for large and
small venue staged concerts and festivals, as well as background music for
banquets and parties. The ensemble members have also regularly shared their
stage with dancers, comedians, local radio broadcasters, and others in
multi-media events. While the ensemble is based on a quartet of troupe also
accommodates requests for performances of between two and five players, in
accordance with organizers requests. The ensemble has a wide range of repertoire
and generally provides musical performances of between half an hour to two hours
in length.
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