Media

World renowned opera singer Hao Jiang Tian to perform at HKU

19 Nov 2009

 

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is pleased to announce that internationally acclaimed Opera Singer Hao Jiang Tian will be performing and visiting at HKU.

Mt Tian will give a short recital and share his performance experience with staff and students of the University, and classical music lovers next Friday (November 27). He will also act as presenter at the forum on the Opera Poet Li Bai and share with Guo Wenjing (composer), Diana Liao (librettist) and Lee Ou-fan (critic) on intercultural possibilities of the opera genre on November 30 (Monday).

Details of the two events are as follows:
1) From Mao to the Met - A Lecture Recital with Hao Jiang Tian
Date:           27 November 2009 (Friday)
Time:           7:30 pm
Venue:         Rayson Huang Theatre, The University of Hong Kong
Moderator:   Professor Daniel Chua, Head, School of Humanities, HKU

2) Forum on the Opera Poet Li Bai
Date:          30 November 2009 (Monday)
Time:          5:30 pm
Venue:        Rayson Huang Theatre, The University of Hong Kong
Moderator:  Professor Daniel Chua, Head, School of Humanities, HKU

The programmes will be in English.

About Hao Jiang Tian
Hao Jiang Tian, one of the first native Chinese opera singers to achieve fame on the world stage. Mr Tian has been singing every year at the Metropolitan Opera since 1991 and has earned recognition as one of today's most talented basso cantantes, singing over 1300 performances of 40 operatic roles worldwide.

About the Opera Poet Li Bai
The genesis and the making of the opera Poet Li Bai had been an artistic journey that took its creators from New York to China, and finally culminated in the world premiere in 2007 at the Central City Opera House in the United States. The title role was created for the acclaimed bass Tian Hao Jiang from the Metropolitan Opera. Guo Wenjing is a composer steeped in Chinese culture and trained in the best of the Western musical disciplines. He is keen to bring out the mundane traits in Li Bai, the man. His music recreates the desolate landscape of Li Bai's exile, the child/genius and man/poet in Li Bai, the earthy devotion to Wine, the stark attraction of the Moon, and the relentless echoes of the chorus. Together they help us meet Li Bai, the exiled poet, caught between his past and future. The opera Poet Li Bai offers us a taste of his poetry and a glimpse into the inner world of a man who lived 1300 years ago, but still helps to illuminate the peaks and valleys of life in the 21st century.

For general enquiries, please contact the Department of Music, HKU (Tel: 2859 7045).

For media enquiries, please call Ms. Phyllis Mak (Programme Manager, Faculty of Arts), Tel: 2859 8048, Fax: 2548 5231 / Email: kpmak@hku.hk or Ms. Trinni Choy (Assistant Director, Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2606 email: pychoy@hku.hk