Superstar cellist who dazzles the world
Great Cello Concertos: Han-Na Chang Plays Haydn
"[Chang] has an enviable power to move her audiences…she’s a natural performer whose musicianship is intense, profound and astonishingly mature." The Strad
Korean Star cellist Han-Na Chang in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Sinfonietta proudly presents “Great Cello Concertos: Han-Na Chang Plays Haydn”. Since beginning as a child prodigy who won the International Rostropovich Cello Competition 15 years ago at age 11, to becoming the superstar cellist she is today, Han-Na Chang has been performing on the most prestigious concert stages around the world to sensational acclaim. Today, as the world commemorates the 200th anniversary of Haydn’s death, Han-Na Chang brings to life the great First Cello Concerto by the master composer－definitely not to be missed!
The programme also includes Haydn’s Divertimento in B-flat, “St Antony Chorale” and Brahms’ last and greatest symphony, a romantic masterpiece in which the composer’s lifelong mastery of symphonic writing culminated. The concert is conducted by John Forster, former Head of Orchestral Studies and Conducting, Royal College of Music in London.
The concert will be held on:
12 December 2009 (Sat) 8:00pm at HK City Hall Concert Hall.
Tickets: $380, $280, $180, $120
The most sought-after cellist of her generation
A protégé of Rostropovich and Maisky, critics once commented about her Shostakovich Concerto that she “speaks the music even more expressively than Rostropovich, its dedicatee”. As a keen recitalist, Han-Na Chang can be heard regularly in the most prestigious recital series around the world. Apart from her busy performing schedule, she is also a student of philosophy at Harvard University.
For further information, please contact Ms Amanda Mok, PR & Communications Manager:
Email：amanda.mok@hksinfonietta.org Tel: 3607 2328
For photos, please download from http://www.hksl.org/eng/media/imageLibrary.aspx or contact Ms Amanda Mok.
Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Great Cello Concertos: Han-Na Chang Plays Haydn
Conductor: John Forster
Cello：Han-Na Chang
12th December, 2009 (Sat) 8:00pm
Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall
Tickets：$380, $280, $180, $120
Programme
Haydn Divertimento in B-flat, Hob II:46, “St Antony Chorale”
Haydn Cello Concerto No 1 in C, Hob VIIb:1
Brahms Symphony No 4 in E minor, Op 98
Han-Na Chang Cello
Han-Na Chang has established an extraordinary international career, performing regularly on the most prestigious concert stages of Europe, North America and Asia. She first won recognition for her exceptional musical gifts in 1994 when, at the age of 11, she won both the First Prize and the Contemporary Music Prize at the Fifth Rostropovich International Cello Competition in Paris.
An exclusive recording artist for EMI Classics, Han-Na’s recordings remain best sellers worldwide and have garnered numerous distinctions. Her recordings of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 and the Cello Sonata (released in 2006) and Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante and the Cello Sonata (released in 2003) with Antonio Pappano directing the London Symphony Orchestra, received sensational critical acclaim and were awarded the Best Concerto Recording of the Year Awards by the ECHO Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, the Cannes Classical Award, the Caecilia Prize and Gramophone magazine. Other best-selling releases include her début album featuring the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations and the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto with Mstislav Rostropovich and the LSO; the Haydn Cello Concertos with Giuseppe Sinopoli and the Staatskapelle Dresden, ‘The Swan’, an album of beloved shorter works for cello and orchestra by Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov; and ‘Romance’, which presents rarely performed works for cello and orchestra by Lalo, Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Saint-Saëns and Dvo?ák. She released a new recording of Vivaldi’s Cello Concertos in November, 2008.
A keen recitalist, Han-Na can be heard regularly in the most prestigious recital series around the world. These includes Los Angeles, Washington DC, Montreal, Brussels, London, Athens, Lisbon, Madrid, and Tokyo among others.
Han-Na Chang has collaborated closely with such conductors as Giuseppe Sinopoli, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Mariss Jansons, and Antonio Pappano. She continues to work with many of the world's great orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the La Scala Philharmonic, and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Han-Na frequently gives free concerts inviting underprivileged children who would otherwise have no opportunity of attending concerts. She also regularly organizes and performs concerts for children both in concert halls and on TV in South Korea, her native country. She currently serves as a Roving Goodwill Ambassador for the Korean Red Cross.
John Forster Conductor
John Forster was closely associated with the Royal College of Music (RCM), London, for more than 30 years, firstly as a prize-winning student of piano, violin and conducting, then as a professor, conductor and Head of Orchestral Studies and Conducting. In addition to his duties at the RCM he was the first resident conductor at the National Centre for Orchestral Studies, working in collaboration with internationally-acclaimed musicians such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kurt Sanderling, Sir Charles Groves, Sir Colin Davis, Vernon Handley, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky and many others. On account of his strong commitment to the training of young musicians he has been in great demand over the years as guest conductor of many youth orchestras, including the County Youth Orchestras of Surrey, Hertfordshire, Essex and Kent, as well as the British Youth Symphony Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. He has been Music Director of the University of London Symphony Orchestra (ULSO) since 2006.
A violinist and principal keyboard player with the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra for many years, John also appeared frequently with this professional orchestra in the Southeast of England as soloist/director and as conductor in repertoire ranging from Bach and Mozart keyboard concertos to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. He has also conducted concerts with the Bournemouth Symphony and Ulster Orchestras.
For three years John served as Chief Conductor and Director of Orchestral Training for the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra (an orchestra of Arab musicians in the Arabian Gulf playing western music), touring with them to England, France, Germany and Belgium. He returned to the United Kingdom in 2001 to take up his current post of Head of Piano at Christ’s Hospital, Horsham, in the South of England.
John has sustained his career as a pianist alongside his conducting and teaching commitments and is in great demand as an accompanist and chamber musician. His work has taken him to the Channel Islands, Belgium, France, Holland, Germany, Spain, Luxembourg and Yugoslavia. Also to Hong Kong, which he visited for the third time in the summer of 2008 along with ULSO and award-winning young soloists Nicola Benedetti (violin) and Leonard Elschenbroich (cello).
Tickets NOW available at all URBTIX outlets
Half-price tickets available for full-time students, senior citizens, people with disabilities and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients
10% discount for group booking of 4 or more adult tickets
Get a 20% discount when you purchase full-price tickets to this concert and the Decoding Haydn concert on 13 December 2009
Ticketing Enquiries & Reservations：2734 9009
Credit Card Telephone Booking：2111 5999
URBTIX Internet Ticketing Service：www.URBTIX.hk
Programme Enquiries：2836 3336 / info@hksinfonietta.org
Hong Kong Sinfonietta is the Venue Partner of the Hong Kong City Hall
Hong Kong Sinfonietta is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative region
Hong Kong Sinfonietta reserves the right to change the programme and artists
---End---