If you go to the classical section of most big Hong Kong record stores and ask for anything by mainland composer Tan Dun, you usually get a shake of the head and a point in the opposite direction.
'Tan Dun . . . try downstairs with Chinese pop.' Like too many artistic representatives of the Chinese diaspora, Tan is best-known outside Asia - especially in Scotland, where he is associate composer for the BBC Scottish Symphony - and the United States, where he lives and where he is often commissioned by the more adventurous classical ensembles.
Yet by next year the avant-garde musician could be a household name in the territory, with at least two high-profile events scheduled for 1997.
Not only is his first opera Marco Polo the headliner for next year's Arts Festival, but one of Tan's playfully complex compositions is in the process of being commissioned by the Preparatory Committee, to be an anthem for the handover ceremonies.
'I would be working with the cellist Yoyo Ma on a piece to be performed on July 1, or perhaps on June 30, I don't know yet,' said an exhausted Tan from New York, moments after returning from Toronto where he had accepted the Glen Gould prize for outstanding musical contributions.
'I don't want to talk about [the Hong Kong commission] too much yet: it won't be confirmed for a few days and there are a few things still to sort out.' In the past month Tan has been busy writing works for the New York Philharmonic, the New York City Opera, Boston Symphony and the Tokyo NHK Symphony.
I first met him in Munich in May, when he was preparing for the world premiere of Marco Polo.
