AS the Shenzhen Daily celebrates the advent of its English learning weekly Go English, two complimentary concerts are being organized for readers.

Hong Kong piano prodigy, Rachel Cheung, along with the Junior Chamber Orchestra of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts will perform in Shenzhen later this month.

Foreign readers will be treated to the first performance July 16, while a second July 17 will be presented to Go English readers as a musical gift.

Sponsored by Hong Kong Skywise Industrial Limited, the two concerts will be held in the Shenzhen Press Auditorium and the Shenzhen Economic Daily International Convention Center.

Representing the highest level of arts in the Hong Kong SAR, the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts features music, dancing, drama, film and television. In the past two decades, the academy nurtured generations of noted artists including 12-year-old girl Rachel Cheung. She made a name for herself worldwide with her performances in various international competitions.

Having captured first prize in the International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in 2003, she again hit the spotlight winning the 2004 Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition. Insiders predict she will become a competitive challenger to her established peers in Shenzhen.

There is a long tradition of cultural exchanges between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. In 1994, the Shenzhen Junior Chamber Music Orchestra, under the direction of renowned Chinese conductor Wang Jiayang, staged a concert in Beijing, winning a huge following.

Two years later, the Hong Kong academy invited the orchestra to perform in Hong Kong.

The concert attracted attention from music lovers and local authorities.

Against the backdrop of the "Speak* Shenzhen" campaign, the Shenzhen Daily released the special weekly edition of Go English, encouraging residents to learn and speak foreign languages.

Ticket booking hotlines:13798312384, 8351-8991.

The Shenzhen Daily hotline:13798312384.

 
Editor: Wings