JohnChen Ensemble: DIY Improvisation
VIEW EVENT DETAILSCommunity Concert by JohnChen Ensemble
Registration at 2:45 pm
Concert at 3:00 pm
Close at 4:00 pm
In this “DIY Improvisation” music program, the JohnChen Ensemble (JC Ensemble) will adjust their repertoire according to the response from the audience during the performance. The group focuses on creating, performing and promoting original world music with a unique Hong Kong style. Aspiring to break boundaries between different musical cultures, and between composing and performing, members of the ensemble come together from different musical backgrounds, using musical ideas and instruments from the West and the East. The ensemble’s repertoire mainly features compositions by members in the group.
Artistic Director John Chen Kwok-ping spent most of the '70s and '80s studying and working as a musician in the United States. After earning his doctoral degree in music (DMA in Composition, Computer Music and Ethno-Musicology from University of Illinois, 1988) and numerous awards, he moved back to Hong Kong and started teaching as a professor in music at Hong Kong Baptist University. As a composer, arranger, guitarist and producer, he has recording credits on over 30 discs of various formats and labels including Hugo, BMG, Polygram, etc. Dragon Wings, his most recent recording (released by Hugo Records), features four of his large-scale percussion compositions. Chen continues to choose an eclectic approach towards his compositions, often fusing more formal concert music with jazz, Chinese and other ethnic genres and esthetics.
Members of JC Ensemble have been involved in various kinds of public performances of original world music in concert halls and outdoor performance spaces. Recent performances include “Heading West 2: The Curious Case of Sanzang” as part of the LCSD’s “Silk Road Festival” in its 2009-2010 Spring School Tour, and 2010 Community Cultural Ambassador Scheme.
2013 JC Ensemble Membership
John Chen — guitar
Herbert Cheung — erhu, violin
Wong Chiu-yu — double bass
Les Fong — percussion
Co-presented with JohnChen Ensemble and RhapsoArts