Hailed by the Financial Times as a festival with a “finely hewn sense of craft,” Intimacy of Creativity – The Bright Sheng Partnership: Composers Meet Performers in Hong Kong (IC) returns for another innovative season from 22 April to 5 May, 2019, presented in partnership with the renowned Curtis Institute of Music!

Intimacy of Creativity explores the creative process through public, in-depth Open Discussions on the campus of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), which presents the festival. The revised compositions are formally presented at Preview Concerts on the campus of HKUST, and World Premiere Concerts are held in renowned venues in downtown Hong Kong.

The 2019 season launches a first-ever two-year partnership between HKUST and the Curtis Institute of Music. IC Founder and Artistic Director Bright Sheng (HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study Helmut and Anna Pao Sohmen Professor-at-Large) is joined by:

• Distinguished Guest Artist Roberto Díaz (President and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music and Grammy-winning violist)
• Distinguished Guest Composer Jennifer Higdon, (Milton L Rock Chair in Composition Studies and alumni at Curtis and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer)
• Distinguished Guest Composer David Serkin Ludwig (Curtis Chair of Composition Studies, Director of the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble and noted composer)
• Guest Artist Ju-Young Baek (Curtis alum and professor of violin at the Seoul National University)
• Ensemble-in-Residence, Curtis 20/21 Ensemble, including: Vera Quartet (Quartet in residence at the Curtis Institute of Music); Andrew Moses, clarinet; and Zitong Wang, piano
• Guest Artist, Wang Hua (dizi)
• Guest Artist, Andy Lin (erhu)
• Guest Artist, Yael Manor (piano)

After receiving over 150 applications from composers from nearly 40 countries of origin to the IC2019 Call-for-Scores , the following emerging composers have been selected to participate:

• Eugene Astapov (Canada)
• Kai-Young Chan (Hong Kong)
• Dai Wei (China)
• Peter Dayton (USA)
• Keane Southard (USA)

The IC2019 Call-for-Scores First Round Selection panel included:

• David Serkin Ludwig (Curtis Chair of Composition Studies)
• Ilari Kaila (Lecturer, HKUST)
• Matthew Tommasini (IC Associate Artistic Director; Assistant Professor of Humanities in Music Education, HKUST)

IC2019 is co-presented by the HKUST School of Humanities and Social Science and HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study together with institutional partner Curtis Institute of Music. The season is presented with support from Helmut and Anna Pao Sohmen in collaboration with Curtis on Tour, the Nina von Maltzahn Global Touring Initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music, and media partners, Radio Television Hong Kong, and Naxos Music Group. Generous support for the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble is provided by the Daniel W. Dietrich II Foundation.