　　The Leisure and Cultural Services Department has invited guzheng artist Wan Xing to stage a recital under the "City Hall Virtuosi Series" later this month. Wan will perform a number of classic and contemporary compositions, some of which will incorporate elements of Western music and multimedia arts to showcase the multicultural facets of guzheng music, bringing an exceptional, cross-boundary musical experience to the audience.
　　Wan is the artistic curator and music director of the recital, and she will be joined by dongxiao artist Zhang Fan to open the recital with the traditional guzheng music piece "The Lotus Rising from the Water". She will also perform with harpist Lauyee Yeung the ancient composition "Three Variations on Yangguan" and the world premiere of "Autumn Breeze through Thousand Miles", which is a new work co-written by Wan and local composer Phoebus Lee, to share with music lovers the beauty of the fusion between the sounds of the guzheng and harp.
　　In addition, Wan will perform two contemporary guzheng compositions, "Flow of Heart" and "La Blancheur", in solo. She will also introduce the ancient piece "Song of the Homebound Fishermen" and the zheng concerto "Blue Heaven Overture" with flautist Carmen Ma and pianist Katie Fong respectively. The thematic finale "Soundscape" will be combined with electronic music, multimedia projection and stage lighting effects, blending the rhythms of Chinese and Western music, from traditional to modern, to bring new artistic elements to guzheng music.
A graduate of the Central Conservatory of Music and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Wan has co-operated with various local arts groups to create a number of productions, such as the original dance poem "Shan Shui: An Ode to Nature" and the mindful theatre "Vipassana" of the Hong Kong Dance Company, as well as the atmospheric music theatre "Tranquil as a Chrysanthemum" of the Wuji Ensemble. Wan has received numerous awards including the Best Performance Award 2002 at the First Chinese Folk Instruments Competition organised by the Ministry of Culture and the Best Teacher Award 2013 at the Third International Guzheng Contest. She has recently been a guzheng instructor at the Education University of Hong Kong.
　　"City Hall Virtuosi" Series: Guzheng Recital by Wan Xing will be staged at 8pm on January 31 (Wednesday) at the Theatre of Hong Kong City Hall. Tickets priced at $180 and $220 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone bookings, please call 3166 1288. For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7321 or visit
www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/programs_1602.html.
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