CU Chorus Sings Philip Glass

Renowned for his piano compositions and film scores, Philip Glass’s seminal choral works are rarely heard in Hong Kong. In this concert, the CU Chorus presents two masterpieces that defined the auditory aesthetics of contemporary pop and film music, revealing another facet of the composer’s artistry.

In 1976, while still driving a taxi to support his art, Glass catapulted to fame with Einstein on the Beach. The opera’s five “Knee Plays”, using only numbers and solfège as lyrics, serve as both structural hinges and the ultimate realization of his unique style. This performance of the complete Knee Plays 1–5 retains the original narrations to preserve the work’s innate theatrical tension.

Parallel to this period of creative eruption, Another Look at Harmony (1975) represents Glass’s radical departure from Western melodic traditions, exploring the vast possibilities of rhythm as the primary driver of musical progression. Part 4, scored for chorus and keyboard, demands an hour of continuous singing. It will be a formidable challenge to both the audience’s sensory imagination and our singers’ physical endurance.

Under the baton of Leon Chu, the CU Chorus joins violinist Yip-wai Chow, filmmaker Kate Reilly, and music professionals Dr. Joanna C. Lee and Ken Smith to present a hallucinatory sound odyssey.

The conductor will give Cantonese introductions before the music performance

Tickets available online at art-mate from 27 March