Newsletter No. 44

中大通訊 CUHK Newsletter V o l . 4‧7 No. 44 July 1993 University News Six to Receive Honorary Doctorates in the 30th Anniversary Year Six distinguished persons will be awarded honorary degrees at the University's 46th congregation to be held on 14th October on the University campus. The Rt. Hon. Christopher Patten, Governor of Hong Kong, will officiate at the ceremony as Chancellor of the University. Mr. Yo-yo Ma and Mr. Zao Wou-ki will each be awarded the degree of Doctor of Literature, honoris causa. Dr. Cheng Yu-tung, Dr. Lee Shau-kee and the Rev. Shih Cheng-yen will each receive the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa. Mr. Thomas H. C. Cheung will receive the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa. Mr. Yo-yo Ma Cellist Born in Paris in 1955, Yo-yo Ma exhibited his talent for music at an early age. At six he gave his first public recital of cello music at the University of Paris as a child prodigy, and at nine he made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall. Ma studied cello under Leonard Rose at Juilliard. After graduating B.A. from Harvard, he has spent most his time on the road, giving as many as 125 concerts a year. In 1978 he was selected sole winner of the Avery Fisher Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in classical music, which gave him the opportunity to perform with major orchestras and artists in the world. A world-renowned cellist, Ma is known for his effortless technique, his ravishing tone, and the extraordinary breadth of his interpretive power. He has dazzled the world's most celebrated musicians, conductors, music critics and educators, and is hailed by Issac Stem as 'one of the greatest instrumental talents alive'. Mr. Zao Wou-ki Painter One of the best-known contemporary Chinese artists, Zao Wou-ki is famed for his unique style which synthesizes 'centuries of Chinese taste with European understanding'. Zao studied Chinese painting, calligraphy and Western art at the National School of F i ne A r ts in Hangzhou. At the age of 27, he moved to Paris in search of inspirations and staged his first individual exhibition there a year later in 1949. Since then he has mounted over 100 exhibitions in major cities around the world, winning the acclaim of critics worldwide. Influenced by the styles of two great masters, Cezanne and Klee, both of whom admired oriental culture, Zao's 'abstract, non-figurative' paintings represent his attempts to bridge two cultural traditions and are keenly sought by collectors and major museums over the world. 1