Online registration is full.  Thank you for your support!

To allow more audience to enjoy this extraordinary event, the performance can be viewed online afterwards.  Details to be announced.

Humankind needs to "listen" in self-cultivation practice        -  Milarepa

Maestro Tan Dun will be presenting a richly laid out programme on Life, which include performances, a talk and an exhibition on the grounds of Chi Lin Nunnery.  It will be in the form of four art series elucidating "self-cultivation by listening", a spiritual discovery that had enlightened Milarepa, Stravinsky and Tan himself.

In the courtyards and gardens of Chi Lin Nunnery, a holistic experience of architecture and music, Dunhuang murals and meta-universe, a filming location, and a drama and dance performance will take place.  It is an occasion where the audience can feel the omni-presence of beauty, whether in the form of nature, the arts or vibes Chinese history and culture.  Under the setting sun, the Chi Lin Nunnery building complex gradually fades into the night as if into a dream or a magical mirror... The performance will begin when those present are least expecting it, allowing people to enter the mystic shifts of the universe and the meta-universe - also known as the "programme of the evening": Lotus, Dialogue between Bach and the Pure Land, Great Compassion Mantra · Water Rock 'n' Roll, String Quartet and Pipa, The Four Seasons and more.  The works will be a soul-purging, dreamlike experience for those attending.

10-11.12.2022 (Sat-Sun) 5:30pm

Lotus Garden, Hammer Hill Park

In Putonghua

Running time of the performance is approximately 1 hour without intermission.

Audience is strongly advised to arrive punctually.  Latecomers will only be admitted at a suitable break.

Online registration is full.  Thank you for your support! 

"Music is liquid architecture; architecture is frozen music." – Tan Dun finds an affinity between the architectural aesthetics of Chi Lin Nunnery and the musical ethos on the murals of Cave 172 of Dunhuang.  In this talk themed "Architecture and Music" for a young audience, he will talk about the concept of "listening to architecture" and "looking at music", based on the empirical "architectural music experience" he shared with Japanese architect Isozaki Arata in creating the Water Music Hall.

4.12.2022 (Sun) 3pm

Xiang Hai Xuan Multi-purpose Hall, Nan Lian Garden

Conducted in Putonghua

Online registration is full.  Thank you for your support! 

Tan Dun will invite Jeff Xiong from Dunhuang Foundation to have a dialogue on the revival of Dunhuang ancient musical instruments and Chen Yining, an artist specialized in Dunhuang music-and-dance, to give a demonstration dance performance and playing the pipa behind the back, a unique feature in Dunhuang paintings.

Topic: The Revival and Future of Dunhuang Ancient Musical Instruments

Speaker: Tan Dun, Jeff Xiong

7.12.2022 (Wed) 1:30pm

Xiang Hai Xuan Multi-purpose Hall, Nan Lian Garden

Conducted in Putonghua

Practicing "self-cultivation by listening" is the auditory world of Milarepa, Tan Dun and Stravinsky.  The Sound Garden installation in Nan Lian Garden is inspired by Tan’s perception of sounds from the Dunhuang murals, and features “imagined music” from "instruments that sound by themselves (through vibes coming from heaven)", in a recording of five ancient Dunhuang musical instruments revived by Tan Dun.

3-11.12.2022 (Sat-Sun) 8am to 8pm

Nan Lian Garden

Free admission

Do the instruments that exist in the murals sound? Why is Tan Dun reviving them? He once said, "Our ancestors invented many musical instruments, and each has a story and a history behind it.  If these instruments disappear, our story and history will be cut off..." The instruments in this exhibition at Xiang Hai Xuan Multi-purpose Hall on the grounds of Nan Lian Garden were the result of years of research and modelling development when Tan Dun was following his inspired journey that led to the composition of Buddha Passion.

3-11.12.2022 (Sat-Sun)

Xiang Hai Xuan Multi-purpose Hall, Nan Lian Garden

Opening Hours: 10am to 5pm

Free admission

Tan Dun  (Artistic Director)

The world-renowned artist and UNESCO Global Goodwill Ambassador Tan Dun has made an indelible mark on the world’s music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical music, multimedia performance, and Eastern and Western tradition.  He is the winner of today’s most prestigious honours, including the Grammy Awards, the Academy Awards (Oscar), Grawemeyer Award and Shostakovich Award, L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, the Bach Prize in Germany, Italy’s Golden Lion Honorary Award in Italy and the 50th Istanbul Music Festival for Lifetime Achievement Award.  In 2021, Tan was presented with an honorary doctorate from the Education University of Hong Kong.  Tan’s music has been played throughout the world by leading orchestras, opera houses, international festivals, and on radio and television.  He is currently Dean of the Bard College Conservatory of Music.

As a conductor of innovative programmes around the world, he has led the Mainland tours of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Japan’s NHK Symphony.  He led L’Orchestre National de Lyon in a six-city tour; a four-city tour of Switzerland and Belgium with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra; and conducted the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, where he was named Artistic Ambassador.  Next season’s highlights include conducting the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra.  He also serves as the Honorary Artistic Director of the China National Symphony Orchestra.

Tan records for Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Opus Arte, BIS, and Naxos.  In 2016, Tan conducted the grand opening celebration of Disneyland Shanghai which was broadcast to a record-breaking audience worldwide.  Most recently, his work Prayer and Blessing was also live streamed using 5G technology and subsequently broadcast worldwide by UNESCO.  His recordings have garnered many accolades, including a Grammy Award for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and nomination for The First Emperor, Marco Polo and Pipa Concerto, Japan’s Recording Academy Award for Best Contemporary Music CD for Water Passion after St. Matthew, and the BBC’s Best Orchestral Album for Death and Fire.

Programme Enquiries: 2268 7325

The programme does not represent the views of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

The presenter reserves the right to change the programme and substitute artists.

https://www.charities.hkjc.com