Classical pianist Chiyan Wong on his jazz-tinged album ‘Swing!’, launching on Apple, and Hong Kong homecoming for concerts with the HKPhil
- The Hong Kong-born, Berlin-based pianist’s concert schedule was badly affected by Covid restrictions, and he signed up for jazz lessons to keep busy
- That led to his new album, Swing!, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and featuring two jazz-tinged works, released on Apple’s classical music platform
Professional soloists had the rare luxury of straying from their demanding routines when the coronavirus pandemic hit, and pianist Chiyan Wong found himself signing up for online jazz lessons during one particular lull.
His February 2022 concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic had just been cancelled and the Berlin-based soloist was looking for something to do.
But a mild flirtation has since become a serious pursuit, the 34-year-old says. And now, back in Hong Kong for the rescheduled concerts, he is also announcing the launch of a new record that has a finger-busting stride.
At the launch event on April 25 at the Hong Kong Fringe Club – which incidentally is trying to revive its long association with the city’s jazz scene – Wong was effusive with the thrill of discovery in spite of suffering with a heavy cold, and performed samples from the album, called Swing!, which is an exuberant pairing of two works for piano and orchestra throbbing with the syncopated vernacular of jazz.
The better-known piece is Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, completed in 1931 after the French composer’s extensive tour of America, and which includes direct quotations of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.