Fully supported by Credit Suisse Musicus Heritage Community Concert Series 2016Free Concerts turn Flagstaff House into “A Home in the Urban Jungle”Hong Kong, August 29, 2016 – Presented by Musicus Society, international prize-winning artists from the chamber music world are set to perform masterworks at the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, the oldest example of Western-style architecture remaining in Hong Kong.
With Credit Suisse back as lead partner, two free Musicus Heritage Community Concert Series events will be staged at the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware (Former Office and Residence of the Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong) on the afternoon of Saturday, 24 September 2016.
Built in the mid-1800s, Flagstaff House, on Cotton Tree Drive, was the office and residence of the Commander of the British Forces in Hong Kong until 1978. Subsequently, it was converted into the Museum of Tea Ware in 1984 and declared a monument in 1989, with a new wing, the K.S. Lo Gallery, added in 1995. As the oldest example of Western-style architecture in the city today, Flagstaff House has witnessed Hong Kong’s turbulent history, such as its occupation by invading forces during the Second World War after it was hit twice by Japanese shells in the Battle of Hong Kong.
However, while events unfolded around this structure, it always maintained its central role as a residence. The concert on 24 September aims to recreate the domestic tranquility that officers who lived there must have yearned for while being far away from home; music, in fact, was probably a good source of comfort and diversion as it was enjoyed regularly in 19th century European living rooms. From the effervescence of Johann Strauss, Sr.’s Polkas and Mozart’s Flute Quartet to the fervor of Brahms’s String Quintet, an intimate concert in such a setting surely provided a much-needed escape from 19th century geopolitical clashes as much as it will from the hustle and bustle of present day Hong Kong.
Among the artists joining the Concerts will be the prominent Hong Kong violist Born Lau, a prizewinner at the prestigious 2014 Primrose International Viola Competition; Italian violinist Gian Paolo Peloso with his priceless Landolfi violin (1755); local flutist David Ma, a rising star who has garnered multiple awards both here and abroad; and the Gloucester String Quartet, winner of the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld 1st International String Competition Chamber Music Division.
Musicus Heritage Community Concert Series – A Home in the Urban Jungle
| Date: |
Saturday, 24 September 2016 |
| Venue: |
Galleries 1 & 2, Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware (G/F)
(Former Office and Residence of the Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong)
10 Cotton Tree Drive, Central, Hong Kong (inside Hong Kong Park) |
| Program: |
Mozart: Flute Quartet in D, K. 285
Johann Strauss, Sr.: Sperl-Polka; Annen-Polka; Damen-Souvenir-Polka
Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G, Op. 111 (2nd & 4th movements) |
| Artists: |
Viola: Born Lau (Hong Kong)
Gian Paolo Peloso (Italy)
Flute: David Ma (Hong Kong)
Gloucester String Quartet (Hong Kong)
Cello: Xu Ting (China) |
| Time: |
2pm & 4pm Concert
3pm Heritage Tour (conducted in Cantonese) |
