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ON

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1981.

SHE HAS BEEN STUDYING SINGING WITH NANCY ZI SINCE 1966, AND IN 1971 OBTAINED THE PERFORMER'S DIPLOMA IN SINGING FROM THE ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSIC. IN SEPTEMBER 1978, SHE LEFT HONG KONG FOR FURTHER STUDIES AT THE ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY OF MUSIC AND DRAMA WHERE SHE GAINED HIGH PRAISE FROM TEACHERS AND EXAMINERS. SINCE RETURNING TO HONG KONG IN SEPTEMBER 1979, SHE HAS APPEARED AS SOLOIST IN MANY CONCERT PERFORMANCES.

ONE OF THE THREE KINGS' BALTHAZAR, IS PLAYED BY MICHAEL CHAN, BASS. MICHAEL STUDIED VOICE FOR MANY YEARS UNDER MAESTRO GUALDI. HE SANG MANY SOLOS IN CONCERTS AND PLAYED IMPORTANT ROLES IN OPERAS PERFORMED BY THE CHORAL GROUP.

CHIANG WAI-MAN, BARITONE, PLAYS THE PART OF KING MELCHIOR. WAI-MAN GRADUATED IN MUSIC FROM THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY IN 1977, WHERE HE MAJORED IN VOCAL PERFORMANCE. HE STUDIED SINGING WITH NANCY ZI AND CONDUCTING WITH MR NG CHIT-KO, PROFESSOR DAVID GWILT, DR PHILIP CAVANAUGH AND MR HUGH MACDONALD. HE HAS CONDUCTED VARIOUS CHORAL GROUPS AND AT PRESENT IS ACTIVE IN CONDUCTING YOUTH CHOIRS.

KAN CHUNG-FAI, TENOR, PLAYS KING KASPAR, WHO IS SLIGHTLY DE AF. CHUNG-FAI IS A MUSIC TEACHER IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL AND HAS BEEN STUDYING VOICE UNDER ELLA KIANG FOR FOUR YEARS. HAVING PASSED THE GRADE 8 (SINGING) EXAMINATION OF THE ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSIC WITH DISTINCTION LAST YEAR, HE WAS SELECTED FOR CONSIDERATION FOR THE 1980 R.S.M. SCHOLARSHIP. IN 1981 HE ALSO OBTAINED THE L.T.C.L. HE IS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE H.K. SILVER JUBILEE SINGERS AND OF CHURCH CHOIRS.

THE KINGS' PAGE IS PLAYED BY LEE KIN-CHUN, BARITONE.

KIN-CHUN STUDIED VOICE UNDER WILFRED LEE, SIT WAI-CHEUNG, MISS LEE BING AND MR YUNG HO-WAI.

HE IS A MEMBER OF THE PRO-MUSICA CHORUS AND THE CANTACORE SOCIETY. APART FROM HIS REGULAR COMMITMENTS WITH CHURCH CHOIRS, HE MAKES OCCASIONAL APPEARANCE IN LOCAL CONCERTS.

THE DANCE SEQUENCES HAVE BEEN CHOREOGRAPHED AND WILL BE PERFORMED BY THE STEPHEN KWOK SCHOOL OF BALLET.

THE HONG KONG ISLAND YOUTH CHOIR OF THE MUSIC OFFICE, TRAINED BY SILAS NG, WILL FORM THE CHORUS OF SHEPHERDS.

THE OPERA IS ACCOMPANIED BY THE HONG KONG YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WHICH WILL BE CONDUCTED BY TWO GUEST CONDUCTORS, SIR DAVID WILLCOCKS, THE WORLD FAMOUS CHORAL CONDUCTOR FROM LONDON, AND MR DAVID STONE, THE MUSIC ADVISER OF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT AND ITS REGULAR CONDUCTOR, MR THOMAS WANG, THE ASSISTANT MUSIC ADMINISTRATOR OF THE MUSIC OFFICE.

TICKETS FOR THESE PERFORMANCES AT $5 AND $10 ARE NOW AVAILABLE AT THE MUSIC CENTRES OF THE MUSIC OFFICE AND AT THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY HALL BOX OFFICE.

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