The Rose and the Nightingale: An Evening of Music from Iran

Updated:

- Youtube Live Streaming will be available. (YouTube: HKUST Center for the Arts)

- For joining the event physically, please submit online registration. LIMITED SEATING!

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Between Europe and Asia:
Traditional Music and Costumes from Central Asia, Caucasus and the Middle East -
Exhibition Closing Concert

The Rose and the Nightingale: An Evening of Music from Iran

In this concert, we will present a range of music from Iran, ranging from traditional classical music based on the radif system, a deeply spiritual music with strong connections to classical traditions along the Silk Road from Western China to North Africa, as well as lighter popular genres derived from this system. We will also present music from different regions in Iran, musics belonging to its different minority groups, testifying to the country's rich diversity. All of these will be played on traditional Iranian instruments by a group of local musicians with roots in Chinese or Western classical music, who have developed a strong interest in Iranian music and have since devoted themselves to mastering its intricacies.

GUEST ARTISTS

Ashley CHUNG - Santur
Jessie LAW - Qanun
Kilby LI - Chang (Harp)
TUNG Tsz Ching - Kamanche
Elnur HAJIYEV - Darbuka
Eugene LEUNG - Setar, Tar, Turkmen Dutar & East Khorasan Dutar

PROGRAM

A selection of songs and compositions from the Persian classical tradition, as well as music from regional traditions.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Ashley CHUNG - Santur

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Ashley Chung graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Studies (First Class Honours) at Hong Kong Baptist University, where she studied the piano with Dr. Cheung Pang Jane and Dr. Sophia Yang. During her undergraduate years, Ashley became increasingly interested in world music and began to study the yangqin, the Chinese hammered dulcimer. After graduation, Ashley continued to explore the hammered dulcimer family around the world. Introduced to Iranian music through Ensemble Kamaan in 2019, she began her journey in Iranian music. She is currently studying the santur with the Iranian musician and composer Mr. Sepehr Rafiiean and pursuing a master's degree in music at her alma mater, as a recipient of the UGC Targeted Taught Postgraduate Programmes Fellowships Scheme 2020/21.

Jessie LAW - Qanun

Jessie is currently studying music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts under the tutelage of Professor Xu Lingzi. She is also being instructed by Luo Jing and Rao Shuxing for Lingnan zheng art. Jessie was selected to represent Hong Kong and received first place in the instrumental folk solo and group performances of the 61st Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. Her outstanding academic result brought her a scholarship from the Parsons Music Foundation. In 2019, she had an opportunity to cooperate with HKAPA Academy Symphony Orchestra and Sharon Andrea Choa, the Dean of Music, for concerto performances. Apart from Zheng, she is also passionate about other zithers, guqin and Iranian kanun. She is a member of the HKAPA Chinese Orchestra, HKAPA Zheng Ensemble and Luo Jing Zheng Ensemble.

Kilby LI - Chang (Harp)

Graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music master's program, Kilby studied with Mr. Doug Rioth from San Francisco Symphony. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Kilby started her harp study with Ms. Ann Huang. She has performed with various performing groups, including Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Bach Choir, San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, Asian Youth Orchestra etc. She was invited to participate and perform in festivals and concerts around the world, such as the Norwegian National Youth Orchestra summer academy, Asian Harp Festival and Singapore Harp Festival. In 2017, Kilby and her friends premiered Paul Patterson's Mosquitoes in Asia at World Harp Congress. Their performance is well received and is featured in the magazine Harp Column.

TUNG Tsz Ching - Kamanche

Tung Tsz Ching is a homegrown cultural professional. She graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Master of Arts in Anthropology; in 2015, she received a Bachelor of Music (Hons) from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. After graduating, she dabbled in performing the huqin with music from everywhere, including techniques from Cantonese music, Teochew music and Xinjiang Uyghur music. She continued to study local music performance styles and theories, exploring Chinese music and its traditional aesthetics and diverse sounds through experiments. In 2018, she founded "Pi-- Sound Experimental Project", and began to plan music exhibitions centring on Central Asian and Persian music. In 2019, she organised the "Everlasting Cantonese Music" project – which aims to preserve local Cantonese music – with the Windpipe Chinese Music Ensemble. In 2020, she planned "Arts in the aiR" – an innovative attempt to integrate virtual reality with the arts that is supported by the Hong Kong Housing Society, introducing the virtual arts to the grassroots and the elderly, with the aim of using technology and art to bring about a caring society.

Tsz Ching is one of few local young musicians who is involved in academia, reviewing music, planning arts activities and concerts, while performing actively in Hong Kong and abroad. She is currently an erhu musician with the Windpipe Chinese Music Ensemble and a guest musician with the Macao Chinese Orchestra.

Elnur Hajiyev - Darbuka

Elnur Hajiyev is a fresh physics Ph.D. graduate from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Besides academics, he is interested in playing and sharing the music of cultures along the ancient Silk Road. He co-founded The Nur Collective and plays the percussion instruments daf and darbuka.

In his native Azerbaijan during the primary school years, he learned the percussion instrument nagara which is played in Caucasus region and in Central Asia and performed in multiple ensembles in his hometown Balaken. During high school and later, university years in Singapore he focused on academics, hence, practiced music infrequently. This changed after he came to Hong Kong to do his Ph.D. and started taking part in cultural activities, where he played music with friends of similar cultural background. Later these little engagements led to meeting the local enthusiasts of the Middle Eastern and Central Asian culture and music, which gave birth to The Nur Collective. He is aspiring to learn from the broad musical heritage of the above-mentioned regions, including but not limited to special techniques involved.

Eugene LEUNG - Setar, Tar, Turkmen Dutar & East Khorasan Dutar

Eugene Leung read music at the University of Cambridge in the UK, and subsequently earned a Masters of Music in Ethnomusicology at Goldsmiths', University of London, during which time he became interested in the music of Central Asia, especially that of the two-stringed lute dutar, found in different forms throughout the region. His main specialism is the Uzbek dutar, which he has studied in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan with internationally renowned masters such as Alisher Alimatov, Guzal Muminova and Sirojiddin Juraev. He also studies the Turkmen dutar with Oghlan Bakhshi from Iran, as well as the Arabic violin with Driss Berrada from Morocco.

After a career in trade promotion, Eugene now specialises in the promotion, performance and education of music from Central and West Asia and neighbouring regions. Recently, he was a music director for the musical event "cartographic counterpoint #1 - From Persia, the sounds of Central Asia/West Asia/the Western Regions", supported by the Arts Development Council. He was also invited by the HKUST to be the curator of the exhibition "Beyond Europe and Asia: Traditional Music and Costumes from Central Asia, Caucasus and the Middle East" at the HKUST Arts Festival 2021. He also authored the roving exhibition "Classical Music of Central Asia" for the Music Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Eugene is also a co-founder of the Nur Collective, a Hong Kong-based ensemble presenting traditional music from Central and West Asia on authentic instruments from the region, with performances at the AC Hall, the Hong Kong Maritime Museum and at various local universities.

ONLINE REGISTRATION

• HKUST Staff Members and Students: 
  Please submit the online registration via Engage (click the RSVP button on this event page)
  
  
• HKUST Staff Quarter Residents, Alumni and Long-serving Retirees/ Leavers: Click Here
  
  

REMARKS 備註

• Free admission 免費入場 | Free Live Streaming 節目免費直播
  
  

• For HKUST members and guests only 活動只供科大成員和嘉賓參與
  
  

• No admission under the age of 6 六歲或以下恕不招待
  
  

• Online registration is required; each registration admits one person only.
  參與活動必須先網上登記；每個登記只限一人出席活動。
  
  

• Please arrive at the venue 15 minutes early before the showtime.
  請於演出15分鐘前抵達場地。
  
  

• Attendees must show their HKUST ID card to the reception desk for identification before admission.
  出席者必須於接待處出示科大證以核實登記資料，方可進入場內。
  
  

• If the registrant cannot attend the event, please change your RSVP status on the Engage page or send an email to artsctr@ust.hk to release the quota.
  如登記者無法出席活動，請於Engage頁面更改RSVP選項 或 傳送電郵通知至 artsctr@ust.hk，將活動名額留給其他科大成員。
  
  

DISEASE PREVENTION MEASURES 防疫措施

• A temperature check is arranged at entrances. The audience with fever symptoms will be denied entry and should seek immediate medical advice.
  觀眾進入場地前須接受體溫檢測，若有發燒症狀，將不得進場，並建議盡快求醫。
  
  
• Masks must be worn at all times in the venue.
  場地內必須佩戴自備的口罩。
  
  
• Special seating arrangements and capacity control have been implemented. Please follow the seating instruction of the CFA staff.
  為配合表演場地使用人數上限及保持社交距離，觀眾席現正實施特別座位安排。請觀眾遵從藝術中心職員指示入座。
  
  
• Hand sanitizers are provided in the venue.
  場地入口均設有酒精消毒搓手液。

CAMPUS ACCESS CONTROL 校園人流管制措施

The campus will continue to implement access control until further notice. Therefore, to join in the events organized at the campus, the member should have a valid campus access pass (CAP) for entering campus. For more details about the CAP, please visit this website.
校園會繼續實施人流管制措施直至另行通知。 因此，參加在校園裡舉辦的活動之科大成員應持有有效的校園通行證（CAP）以進入校園。 有關校園通行證的更多資訊，請瀏覽此網頁。

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ENQUIRY

HKUST Center for the Arts

E-mail: artsctr@ust.hk
Website：https://artsctr.hkust.edu.hk/
Facebook: hkustcfa / Instagram: hkustArts / Youtube: The HKUST Center for the Arts

ORGANIZED BY

HKUST Center for Education Innovation and Center for the Arts