(By the courtesy of Musicus Society.)

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Programme Notes:

More than a century ago, Chinese started to study in England and they are cultivated with Western civilisation, whereas the government of Britain established a colony in Hong Kong connecting China to the rest of the world. The piano trio, East Meets West, is inspired by the Hung Hing Ying Building in Hong Kong under such historical context and hybridity. 

The building is inherited from the neoclassicism and Edwardian Baroque architecture, with an oriental sense of emptiness. This forms the musical materials of the piece. Musically, its chordal piano writings imitate the entrance portico, whereas its resonance provides space for audience to enjoy the plain white pandiatonic sonority as if they are viewing the inner vast white dome from the bottom. Ultimately, the composer attempts to combine the aesthetics of orientalism and the aesthetics of British music and architecture in early 20th century in a coherent form.