ARTISTS

Tra NGUYEN, piano
Kitty CHEUNG, violin
Eric YIP, cello

PROGRAM

Balakirev Impromptu for Violin and Piano

Mussorgsky Sunless (Voice and Piano arranged for Violin and Piano)

Borodin Tarantella Piano 4 Hands

Cesar Cui Sonata for Violin and Piano

- Interval -

Rimsky-Korsakov Piano Trio

 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Tra NGUYEN, piano

British-Vietnamese pianist Tra Nguyen’s performances have been praised as “coruscating” (The Independent), “sophisticated” (Rheinpfalz-Zeitung) and possessing "surpassing keyboard artistry and passion" (American Record Guide). Her recent recordings on Sterling and Grand Piano Naxos were chosen twice as Album of the Week by The Independent, in March 2010 and April 2012.

Tra's imaginative programming balances core repertoire and lesser-known music. She worked with Sterling Records to produce premiere recordings of music for piano and orchestra by Joachim Raff with conductors Andrea Quinn, Roland Kluttig and the Symphony of Norrlands Opera. The chamber music CD with clarinetist Sabine Grofmeier was released on ARS Produktion, featuring works of the German romantics and their contemporaries. Her critically acclaimed recent 6 CDs of Joachim Raff on Grand Piano (now also available in a complete box set) are recognised as firm introduction to his piano works. Tra's further CD Raff's Works for Piano and Orchestra recorded with Maestro Kerry Stratton and the Prague Radio Orchestra was released on Grand Piano in November 2017.

Tra gave her first performance at the Hanoi Opera House when she was ten and has continued to engage audiences in other prestigious venues worldwide (Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center and Tokyo Opera City amongst others). Tra acquired wide range of repertoire with complete works for piano and orchestra of Beethoven, Brahms and Chopin; complete Schubert Piano Sonatas (including the incomplete sonatas), Liszt Transcendental Etudes version 1837 are amongst the projects undertaken. Tra is a keen chamber music partner.

Tra Nguyen studied with Lev Naumov in Moscow Conservatory and with Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Tra has been awarded with ARAM (Associate of the Royal Academy of Music) for her "significant contribution to the music profession" in May 2013.

 

Kitty CHEUNG, violin

Kitty Cheung is co-founder of Contrast Trio (saxophone-violin-piano), Romer String Quartet, and adjunct lecturer at Hong Kong Baptist University. As a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, Dr. Cheung has performed in over 25 countries including Germany, Austria, Thailand and the USA at venues including Carnegie Hall, Barbican Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus and Wigmore Hall. She was the Associate Concertmaster of Hong Kong Sinfonietta. As an ensemble leader she made recordings for Decca Label, Loft Records, New World Records and Bridge Records, of which the latter was nominated for a Latin Grammy.

 

Eric YIP, cello

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Eric Yip received his early musical training from Chai Hon Fong under the Instrumental Music Training Scheme of the Music Office. With the Hong Kong Jockey Club Dance and Music Fund, Yip got his Master of Music from Chicago College of Performing Arts under the tutelage of John Sharp and Richard Hirschl. Prior to the CCPA, Yip graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with Bachelor of Music and his principal teacher was Professor Ray Wang.

Experienced in orchestral playing, Yip is active in the major orchestras in Hong Kong. Yip is currently a member of Hong Kong Sinfonietta and a freelance player of Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Before returning to Hong Kong, Yip was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He had participated in music festivals in the past: the International Menuhin Music Academy, the Asian Youth Orchestra, the Canton International Summer Music Academy, the Kirishima Music Festival. In 2010, he participated in the Pacific Music Festival as principal cellist.

Outisde the orchestra scene, Yip is active as a chamber musician, soloist and conductor. He is the founding member of Romer String Quartet. He has been giving chamber and solo recitals in Portugal, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, and the United States, where Romer String Quartet made their Carnegie Hall debut in February 2016.  He was featured in the Hong Kong Arts Festival as a guest performer in 2013 and 2014. He played Tchaikovsky Pezzo Capriccioso with Hong Kong Symphonic Cordiality in their Taiwan tour in April 2013 and was invited to give his solo debute in Kuala Lumpa playing Haydn Cello Concerto in C major with Friend of Strings Chamber in 2016. He has performed Kol Nidrei with The New Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in Hong Kong City Hall and was invited to be the guest conductor of Ipoh Strings in 2018.

He was a faculty member of Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra from 2011-2013. He gave masterclasses in Hong Kong Youth Music Camp upon the invitation of the Music Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in 2016 and 2017.

 

REMARKS:

- For HKUST members and guests only
- Free admission
- Free seating
- No admission under the age of 6

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PROGRAM ENQUIRIES:

HKUST Center for the Arts
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PRESENTED BY:

HKUST Center for Education Innovation
HKUST Center for the Arts