Langley Community Music School alum returns for Sunday performance

Paul Hung is devoted to the flute.

And the  Langley Community Music School alum will be returning to his alma mater this Sunday to showcase his skills on the popular wind instrument in a LCMS’ Concerts Café Classico performance.

The 27-year-old flautist will join collaborative partner Romanian pianist, Bogdan Dulu, to perform inside the school’s Rose Gellert Hall on Jan. 18.

Hung says he’s happy to be back at the Langley Community Music School.

“LCMS feels like a second home to me,” Hung said. “As a student, I enjoyed the sense of community – people showing their support by showing up at student concerts and festivals. It was fun and stress free.”

Born in Taiwan, Hung entered LFAS when he was 13, and made his first concerto debut at 16 at the Whistler Music Festival.

His proficiency on the flute has taken him places.

He’s been featured several times as the winner of the Vancouver Kiwanis competition, and awarded the Tom Lee Music scholarship for Excellence in Music Performance.

Hung was a recipient of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Galaxie Rising Stars Award” and placed Second in National Music Competitions 2008.

In May of 2011, Hung  won a spot in the YouTube Symphony and performed with 100 other musicians around the world at the Sydney Opera House.

As a solo and chamber flute player, Hung performed in music festivals such as the Banff music festival, Domaine Forget, MusicFest Canada, and Performing Arts BC.

Hung also played with Vancouver Symphony, Vancouver Island Symphony and Kamloops Symphony.

And as a teacher, he is a faculty member of the Vancouver Academy of Music and Showcase Academy.  

Hung is also a student of Christie Reside, the principal flautist of Vancouver Symphony.

He has also studied under Lorna McGhee and Brenda Fedoruk at UBC School of Music.

Hung is expecting to graduate with a Master of Music degree from the University of British Columbia in May, 2015.

Hung said flute is “almost like a solo instrument” in orchestras, adding that it  “has lots of colour.”

“It’s a very colourful instrument,” he said. “It’s very close to singing I think.”

Hung is using this time to advance his playing with a goal of becoming a full-time member of a symphony orchestra.

Playing the flute is a constant learning process for Hung.

“It’s not just mastering the instrument, it’s mastering the different styles and pieces of music,” he said. “It’s not possible in one lifetime to play them all.”

The flute-piano duo will perform Sonata ‘Undine’, Op.167 by Carl Reinecke, Touching the Ether by Ian Clarke, I Converse with You in a Dream by Jocelyn Morlock, East Wind for Solo Flute by Shulamit Ran, and Tango Fantasia by Jacob Gabe.

Pianist profiled

Hung will be joined by pianist Bogdan Dulu.

Born in Ploiesti, Romania, Dulu studied at a special music school for gifted students from the age of seven.  

He debuted at the age of 12 with an orchestral solo as part of a Ploiesti State Philharmonic concert, broadcast by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation.

Dulu spent many of his teenage years working with Romanian Radio in Bucharest and has since participated in more than 30 national and international piano competitions, performing at notable concert halls including Carnegie Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and Steinway Hall, as well as in major cities in Japan, Italy, France, Belgium, Poland, and Bulgaria.

Dulu has received multiple awards throughout North America and Europe, including the 2011 UBC Concerto Competition, his Canadian debut.

In 2009, he completed his master’s degree from Mannes College of Music in New York City and is currently working on his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of British Columbia School of Music, working double-duty as a UBC teaching assistant.

Learn more about Dulu by clicking here.

Music and conversation

The Café Classico event starts at 2:30 p.m., featuring a conversation with Hung and Dulu, hosted by LCMS artistic director Elizabeth Bergmann.

There will be a short break with coffee and refreshments, before the performance from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

“We are so pleased to have played a part in the rising success of Paul Hung,” Bergmann said. “We are also honoured to be able to welcome accomplished Romanian pianist Bogdan Dulu.  Both Paul and Bogdan are exciting young performers who represent well the next generation of musical talent. ”

Tickets for the Jan. 18 performance are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, and $10 for students.

Call the box office at 604-534-2848. The Rose Gellert Hall is located at 4899 207 Street.