Everlasting Cantonese Music (English version)：Episode 1 “Moon Night” “Lan Kwai Tang Fong” “Speeding

In this episode, we will appreciate 3 pieces of Cantonese music with our audience: “Moon Night”, “Lan Kwai Tang Fong” and “Speeding across the Sky”.
What inspires NG King-pan to create “Moon Night” is a line from the famous Cantonese opera “The Legend of the Purple Hairpin”: “hugging the weeping lady on a fog moon night”. The traditional version of “Moonlight over Spring River” is usually led by xiao and pipa, while “Fog Moon Night” is led by xiao and houguan for a better showcase of the characteristics of Cantonese music.
“Lan Kwai Tang Fong” is a lively piece. The composer LUK Wai-chun not only spices it up with dance, but also includes in it an impromptu in order to make this work more refreshing.
Composer Joshua CHAN tries to introduce figures that are never found in Cantonese music into his works. The sudden transposition is a stroke of genius that makes listeners feel like “Speeding across the Sky”.

Host: KWOK Ka-ying
Programme:
NG King-pan “Moon Night” (2020) [Ensemble] (Commissioned Work)
LUK Wai-chun “Lan Kwai Tang Fong” (2020) [“Soft Bow” Five-Piece Combo] (Commissioned Work)
Joshua CHAN “Speeding across the Sky” (1999) [“Soft Bow” Five-Piece Combo]

NG King-pan holds a doctorate in composition from the University of Hong Kong. He is active in popular, Chinese and classical music. He mainly performs, composes and arranges music, and also plans and organises concerts.
LUK Wai-chun is a doctoral candidate in composition at the Department of Music of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He focuses on the fusion of world music’s eclectic stylistic elements, and explores different musical styles.
Doctor Joshua CHAN is an associate professor in the Department of Music of the University of Hong Kong. He has created more than 190 pieces of diversified styles for various types of media.
Kwok Ka-ying is a young Hong Kong yangqin player. She is the first postgraduate to be awarded a master’s degree in yangqin from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and also a resident musician of the Windpipe Chinese Music Ensemble.