Guest Lecture by KENNETH YEUNG
Supporting the below United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:支持以下聯合國可持續發展目標：支持以下联合国可持续发展目标：
From Iconography to Organology
Picturing the Golden Age of the Harpsichord – Domestic Virtue and Courtly Spectacle, 1600-1800
Event description
What would viewers infer about education, sociability, and display when a plucked string keyboard instrument appears in Baroque portraits, genre scenes, or still lifes?
This guest lecture explores the interesting functions of paintings featuring harpsichords across domestic interiors and courtly settings between 1600 and 1800. Moving from iconography to organology, we'll examine different types of harpsichords and read mottos, maker’s roses, and painted soundboards while “sounding” selected scenes with live demonstrations.
Biography
Ki Fung (Kenneth) Yeung is a performer and educator whose work bridges historical insight and expressive musicianship. He performs on harpsichord, fortepiano, organ, clavichord, and viola da gamba, focusing on historically informed performance, continuo, and improvisation. A finalist in the harpsichord category of the 31st International Competition of Early Music in Yamanashi (Japan), he has appeared across Europe, Asia, and North America as soloist, chamber musician, continuo player, director, and improviser, with highlights including the Bach Biennale Weimar and a critically acclaimed solo harpsichord recital at HKUST.
Kenneth holds a Doctor of Music in Early Music (Historical Keyboards) from Indiana University, with earlier studies at Oberlin Conservatory and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He recently graduated from the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar in Historical Keyboards (harpsichord, organ, clavichord) and Viola da Gamba, receiving the highest distinction in the former. Currently a harpsichord instructor at CUHK, he frequently leads workshops, continuo coaching, and lecture-recitals; through an integrated practice of performance and pedagogy, he aims to make early music vivid, rigorous, and relevant, bringing clarity, imagination, and historical depth to today’s audiences while fostering the next generation of historically informed performers.
Event Information
• 19 March 2026
• 7:30 pm – 8:45 pm
• Tsang Shiu Tim Art Hall
• In English with live performance
Registration: https://forms.office.com/r/UCHfzfKXPc
• For HKUST members and invited guests