Meet Sibu-born guitarist Philip Hii at music concert
SIBU: A music concert will be hosted by Methodist Pilley Institute in conjunction with its jubilee celebration on March 16 starting 7.30pm at Wei Kuok Hall, MPI campus here.
The music concert will feature world- renowned Sibuborn guitarist Professor Philip Hii and clarinetist Professor William Lipman from USA.
Ticket to the concert is RM10 per person.
Hii has performed extensively in the United States, Mexico, Germany, and New Zealand. His Bach CD received rave reviews from critics in Germany, England, Japan and the US.
It was chosen as one of Guitar Player Magazine’s picks of the month which says, “His passionate rubato and penetrating tone contribute to a thrilling performance.”
The Washington Post calls the CD “exciting” and “dazzling.” and Acoustic Guitar Magazine calls him “the Heifetz of the classical guitar.”
Hii started the guitar at age ten. After winning a national competition in Malaysia, he left for New Zealand to study law.
He won the New Zealand National Cup and appeared on national television. He furthered his studies in England and Germany before going to the United States in 1983.
Hii holds a B. Mus degree from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand as well as a jazz arranging diploma from Berklee College of Music and a Master of Music degree from the University of North Texas.
He has published numerous articles in Soundboard, Guitar International, Gitarre und Laute, and American String Teacher and is a former Guitar Forum Editor for the AST.
Six of his Bach transcriptions have been published by Guitar Solo Publications. His second CD, Stream of Consciousness, is a compilation of originals arranged for solo guitar and synthesizers.
In 2004, he released his third CD, a compilation of 11 Chopin nocturnes transcribed for guitar. He was a member of the New York City Classical Guitar Society Artistic Advisory Board.
His most recent project is a series of books called The Art of Virtuosity.
As for Lipman, he received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Boston Conservatory of Music and his Master of Music and doctoral studies at the Eastman School of Music.
While at Eastman, he was Principal Clarinet of the Eastman Wind Ensemble and the Eastman Musica Nova. He has served as Principal Clarinet with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Co- Principal Clarinet with the Cape Town (South Africa) Symphony.
He has been a soloist with the above orchestras and Boston Pops Orchestra in Symphony Hall. As a clarinetist and saxophonist, he has performed with a variety of orchestras including the Rochester Philharmonic, Schubert Theatre in Boston, and with the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler, and in a variety of venues throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the Middle East, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Lipman has a body of works commissioned for him by composers such as Sydney Hodkinson, Warren Benson, Dennis Leclaire, Joseph Bardarnashvilli ( Ukraine/ Israel) David Krivitsky (Moscow) and W.O. Smith, from the David Brubeck Quartet.
Lipman is currently Professor of Clarinet & Saxophone at Del Mar College, Texas, USA and a member of the performing artists of the Bacco e Bach Festival in Monferrato, Italy.
For enquiries on the concert, call MPI at 084- 322268.