Lam Bun Ching and the Macao Chamber Orchestra
Monday, October 21, 2002 20:00
St. Dominic's Church
Free Admission
Programme:
Lam Bun Ching: “Circle”, “Saudades de Macau”, “Sudden Thunder”
Chen Yi: Second Symphony
Conductor: Lam Bun Ching
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Lam Bun Ching |
Lam Bun Ching, born in Macao in 1954, began her piano studies at age seven, and gave her first public recital at fifteen. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in piano from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, she studied composition and conducting and then received a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of California at San Diego. A winner of the coveted Prix de Rome, she has also been awarded first prizes in the Aspen Music Festival, the Northwest Composer’s Symposium, and the highest honour at the Shanghai Music Competition, the first international composer’s contest in China. Her works have been performed at music festivals such as Japan’s “Pacific Sounding”, “Aspeckte”(Austria), New Music America (Los Angeles), Bang on a Can (New York) and others. Also active as a pianist and conductor, Lam has received numerous prestigious commissions including “Saudades de Macau”, commissioned by the Macao Cultural Institute and premiered in April 1990 by the Macau Sinfonietta, conducted by its composer. This work, which will be performed in this concert, reflects the composer’s memories of her birthplace.
The Macao Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1983 by Father Áureo de Castro of the St. Pious X Academy of Music and a group of amateur musicians. In 1984 the Orchestra was incorporated into the Cultural Institute of the Macao S.A.R. Government (formerly Cultural Institute of Macao) and worked under the baton of a succession of musical directors: Stuart Bonner, Doming Lam, Veiga Jardim and Yuan Fang. Since it was founded, the orchestra has played an important role in the musical life of Macao, giving regular performances to the public and school community. Its repertoire ranges from intimate chamber works to symphonies and concertos. In 1995 the Orchestra was restructured and became the only full-time professional orchestra in Macao. The orchestra has performed with world-renowned interpreters such as Peter Schreier, Sequeira Costa, Jennifer Smith, Monique Duphil, Liu Shi Kun, Huang Bin, Wang Jian and Dagoberto Linhares, among others, and has toured Portugal, Spain and China. Since 1998, it has been presenting concerts on a regular basis at St. Dominic’s Church on the last Saturday of every month. The orchestra has been also holding regular campus concerts in many schools in an effort to develop local students’ interest in music as well as to enhance musical appreciation.
Running time: approx. 1 hour 30 mins
* Entry using coupon distributed at 6.30pm on day of concert at concert venue.