🗓 29 January 2026 (Thursday)
🕣 7:30pm
📍 Function Room 3, Quarryside
🎟 FREE ADMISSION; registration is required
Prior to the concert "Symphonic Jazz Odyssey", join host Dr. Kenneth Li for a lively talk exploring the fascinating world of symphonic jazz. Li will introduce his own composition Sagittarius, sharing how to weave orchestral textures and colours with jazz idioms into a distinctive voice. Joining live online from the UK and the US respectively, composer Dr. Barak Schmool will discuss his latest work Many Continents, 1 Language, which will receive its premiere in the concert, and reflect on the cross-cultural ideas behind it, while the versatile violinist Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, known for her wide-ranging repertoire across genres, will speak about the challenges and excitement of performing new styles that blend symphonic richness with rhythmic vitality.
These perspectives create a dynamic dialogue on how symphonic jazz is evolving across regions, and how artists are shaping its future, inviting audiences to discover the genre’s diversity, cultural contexts, and creative journeys behind the music.
Host: Dr. Kenneth Li
Guest Speakers:
Dr. Barak Schmool (UK)
Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh (US)
*Online registration prior to the event is required
Remarks:
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This event is conducted in English
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The running time of the event is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes
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Free admission; free seating. Registration is required.
Enquiries: kennethli.music.hk@gmail.com
Dr. Kenneth Li
host
Kenneth has emerged as a versatile jazz violinist, composer, arranger, and sambista. His musical footprint extends across continents, gracing stages in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada etc. His flair in jazz performance was honed at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he earned his Master’s degree in jazz violin performance. He later gained his doctoral degree in composition at The Chinese University of Hong Kong with the support of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund. Kenneth’s works have been showcased on significant platforms such as the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) World New Music Days and the Asian Classical Music Initiative (ACMI) International Conference. Having received commissions from esteemed organizations such as the Musicus Society, the Hong Kong Museum of Art etc., he is dedicated to redefining the boundaries of musical genres through his compositions. His discography includes a variety of singles and albums, notably his solo EP “Hey.” which embodies a unique blend of musical expression. As the founder of Korvi Quartet, the first jazz string quartet from Hong Kong, he is committed to exploring infinite possibilities of jazz.
Dr. barak schmool
guest speaker
b. 1969 Barak Schmool is a composer, teacher and multi-instrumentalist from London. His varied career has included 10 years playing piccolo with jazz star Django Bates' orchestra, touring worldwide with his own jazz and samba groups, running a record label and collective (F-IRE) - as well as recordings with Jacob Collier and Friendly Fires (Brit-pop) and completing a PhD in African music. More recently, recovering his direction as a composer, he has scored 2 films (Cuba in a Bottle, The Bitter Tears of Zahra Zand) and produced a number of concerti for friends, most notably for Abel Selaocoe (cello) and Seckou Keita (kora) played by BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and Orchestre National de Bretagne amongst others, and Great Circles for Beethovenfest 2025/Bernhard Schimpelsberger. For 25 years he has been a member of the jazz faculty at the Royal Academy of Music, where he was once a composition student and maintains a music-art gallery at http://www.instagram.com/schmeinstein.
Dr. xenia deviatkina-Loh
guest speaker
“Superb playing and a moving interpretation” Limelight magazine. Award winning violinist Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh has performed as soloist and recitalist in various venues across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, and China. She also frequently performs with major ensembles and concert series around LA. As of 2021, she is a member of ECHOI — MEC’s ensemble-in-residence. In 2019, Dr. Deviatkina-Loh released her debut album under SHEVA Contemporary. A dedicated pedagogue, she has partaken in tours spanning regional NSW in Australia, regional Washington State, and Los Angeles, giving masterclasses, lectures, and recitals. She has presented at AWMAT (Alliance of Women in Media Arts and Technology) and ACMI (Asian Classical Music Initiative), and was a fellow at the Lucerne Festival Academy, the Atlantic Music Festival, SICPP (Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice), and NMFS (New Music for Strings). She is currently on staff at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, and on faculty at Mount Saint Mary's University and San Bernardino Valley College. She was the president of ACMI’s 2024 International Conference, which was hosted by MSMU. Dr. Deviatkina-Loh received her Bachelors of Music Performance degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music; her Masters of Arts degree at the Royal Academy of Music, London; and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at UCLA.
Presented by:
Supported by:
The Hong Kong Arts Development Council supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council.