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On 10 December 2019 at the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, 8:00pm, the phenomenally talented American soprano Dawn Upshaw will make her Hong Kong debut with City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK). She will perform signature songs by Berio and Canteloube which are folk-inspired and by turns winsome, witty and sanguine. Beautiful rural scenes are also depicted in two orchestral suites by Czech nationalist composer Dvořák and John Ireland, one of the greatest purveyors of English impressionism.
Having garnered 5 Grammy Awards, 50 recordings and 300 appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, Dawn Upshaw is celebrated worldwide for her ability to reach the heart of both the music and the lyrics. Since her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1984 her acclaimed performances on the opera stage include the great Mozart roles as well as modern works by Stravinsky, Poulenc and Messiaen. Dawn Upshaw holds honorary doctorate degrees from Yale University, the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School of Music. She is currently the Head of the Vocal Arts Programme at Tanglewood Music Centre and was the founding Artistic Director of the Vocal Arts Programme at the Bard College Conservatory of Music in the USA.
Tickets to the Dawn Upshaw + CCOHK concert priced at $500, $380, $250 with half-price concessions for full-time students, senior citizens, people with disabilities and minder, and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients are now available at all URBTIX outlets. For ticketing enquiries, call 3761 6661; for credit card telephone booking, call 2111 5999; for internet booking, visit www.urbtix.hk; for programme or other enquiries, call 2861 2156 or email [email protected].
Dawn Upshaw will also give a Vocal Masterclass on 08 December 2019 (Sunday) from 3:30pm-6pm at GR2, 8/F HK Cultural Centre Grand Theatre Backstage. Observer tickets are priced at $100. For bookings and further enquiries, please contact Ms. Betty Fung at 2864 2158 / [email protected].
For photos, artist interviews and further MEDIA ENQUIRIES please contact CCOHK at 2864 2151 or via email at [email protected].
More about Dawn Upshaw
A five-time Grammy Award winner, Dawn Upshaw has achieved worldwide celebrity as a singer of both operatic and concert repertoire. Her extraordinary ability to communicate text and the heart of the music has earned her numerous distinctions and awards, and the devotion of an exceptionally diverse audience. Since her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1984 her acclaimed performances on the opera stage include the great Mozart roles (Susanna, Ilia, Pamina, Despina, and Zerlina) as well as modern works by Stravinsky, Poulenc and Messiaen. She has given almost 300 performances in Europe, London and the USA and has championed newly commissioned works created for her including The Great Gatsby by John Harbison; the Grawemeyer Award-winning opera, Love from Afar and The Passion of Simone by Kaija Saariaho; John Adams’s Nativity oratorio El Niño; and Osvaldo Golijov’s chamber opera Ainadamar (Fountain of Tears). Her artistic collaborations include concerts with artists such as the Kronos Quartet, James Levine, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In recital Dawn Upshaw has become a generative force, having premiered more than 25 works. She is featured on more than 50 recordings including the million-selling Symphony No.3 by Henryk Gorecki for Nonesuch Records and full-length opera recordings of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro; Messiaen’s St. Francois d’Assise; Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress; John Adams’s El Niño; two volumes of Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne and an acclaimed three-disc series of Osvaldo Golijov’s music for Deutsche Grammophon. In 2007 she was named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation, the first vocal artist to be awarded the five-year “genius” prize, and in 2008 she was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Dawn Upshaw holds honorary doctorate degrees from Yale University, the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School of Music. She is currently the Head of the Vocal Arts Programme at Tanglewood Music Centre and was the founding Artistic Director of the Vocal Arts Programme at the Bard College Conservatory of Music in the USA.
City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) holds a unique position as one of Asia’s leading chamber orchestras. Members are professional musicians experienced in playing diverse styles ranging from Baroque and classical to East-West crossover, tango, Bollywood and jazz. Since its establishment in 1999 CCOHK has performed with many world-class artists including Sir James Galway, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Dame Emma Kirkby, Sir Thomas Allen, Sir Neville Marriner, Christian Lindberg, Sarah Chang, Philippe Entremont, Julian Lloyd Webber, Edgar Meyer, Branford Marsalis, Richard Galliano and The King’s Singers. The orchestra has also collaborated with celebrities including Hayley Westenra, Richard Clayderman, Robin Gibb, Dame Edna Everage and Canto-pop stars Sandy Lam, Hins Cheung and Hacken Lee. Additional highlights include collaborations with the Vienna Boys Choir, The American Boychoir, the Warsaw Boys Choir, the Swedish Voices Chamber Choir and Choeur Britten. On tour CCOHK has been invited to perform in Italy, Taipei, Beijing, Chengdu and at the 20th China Shanghai International Arts Festival. At home CCOHK is in high demand with performing engagements for Hong Kong Ballet, Le French May Arts Festival, RTHK Radio 4, the World Harp Congress and The Hong Kong International Piano Competition. In support of contemporary music CCOHK has staged world premieres of works by Daniel Binelli, Dobrinka Tabakova, Detlev Glanert, Mao Yuan and Alexander Prior, and by Hong Kong’s top composers at Musicarama and the Hong Kong Contemporary Music Festival. CDs include an internationally acclaimed release on OUR Recordings featuring the world premiere of Richard Harvey’s Concerto Incantanto with Danish recorder virtuoso Michala Petri. CCOHK’s mission to cultivate young audiences for classical music in Hong Kong has led to the creation of several original fully-staged productions incorporating actors. These include Magnificent Mozart, The Star Bach, Vivaldi Unmasked and Bug Symphony which won the Public Choice Award at the YAMawards in Portugal 2017. At the helm of CCOHK’s artistic and executive planning is CCOHK’s founder Leanne Nicholls, herself a prize-winning performer who was awarded a commendation certificate from the Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2009. French conductor Jean Thorel served as chief conductor from 2008 to 2016. Armenian conductor and virtuoso pianist Vahan Mardirossian was appointed chief conductor in September 2019.
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