Sweet French Musical Bonbons! 
This Saturday, A Journey to France with conductor Sylvain Gasançon, 
HK Phil Principal Percussion Aziz D. Barnard Luce and Co-Principal Flute Olivier Nowak 
French Musical Bonbons (22 May, ONE performance only)

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[21 May 2021, Hong Kong] This Saturday (22 May) at the Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) presents a delicious French concert, led by French conductor Sylvain Gasançon, and featuring HK Phil Principal Percussion Aziz D. Barnard Luce in Milhaud’s Concerto for Percussion, and Co-Principal Flute Olivier Nowak playing the first movement of Ibert’s Flute Concerto. 

The journey begins with Honegger’s Pastorale d'été (Summer Pastoral), with colourful and impressionistic music evoking early morning in the Alps.

Two pieces by Ravel, one of France’s greatest composers, are also featured – Pavane pour une Infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) and Le Tombeau de Couperin (The Tomb of Couperin). Ravel’s mother came from the Basque Region on the borders of France and Spain, and the Pavanne shows influences of his love of Spanish traditions. Le Tombeauis dedicated to the memory of Ravel’s friends who died during the First World War, and its movements are based on the traditional structure of the Baroque Suite which the famous French composer Couperin also utilised.

Roussel’sLe festin de l'araignée (The Spider’s Feast) is a delicate piece of orchestral writing which follows the fate of numerous buzzing insects as they find themselves entangled within a spider’s web, there to be kept until the spider decides it’s time to eat!

French Musical Bonbons will be presented on 22 May 2021 (Sat) at 8PM in the Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium. Tickets are HK$380, $280 and $180 and are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Artists
Sylvain Gasançon, conductor [full description]
Sylvain Gasançon won first prize in the International Eduardo Mata Conducting Competition in Mexico in 2005. The following year he was awarded second prize at the International Jorma Panula Conducting Competition in Vaasa, Finland.  He has since quickly become an established conductor on the international scene, acclaimed for his powerful interpretations of music ranging range from Brahms to Berio, Messiaen, Korngold and Schoenberg.

Aziz D. Barnard Luce, percussion [full description]
A native of Washington D. C., Aziz D. Barnard Luce joined the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) as Principal Percussionist in 2011. Aziz holds degrees from Boston University as well as the New England Conservatory, graduating with academic honours, and has twice been awarded a Tanglewood Music Center fellowship. Before joining the HK Phil, Aziz was the Principal Percussionist of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra in Florida and has performed with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras.

Olivier Nowak, flute [full description]
Olivier Nowak joined the HK Phil in 2008 where he is currently Co-Principal Flute.  In his native France he was regularly invited to perform in the Opéra de Paris Orchestra, as well as with the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy (holding the Principal Flute position for the 2005/06 season interim), and others.

FRENCH MUSICAL BONBONS
22 | 5 | 2021
SAT 8PM
Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium
HK $380 $280 $180
Tickets now available at URBTIX; ONE performance only
For ages 6 and above

Artists

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Sylvain Gasançon	Aziz D. Barnard Luce Photo Credit: Phil Shek	Olivier Nowak	Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Photo Credit: Eric Hong/HK Phil

Programme

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