Piano Superstar Yuja Wang and Maestro Jaap van Zweden Open the HK Phil 2017-18 Season

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) kicks off its 2017/18 Season with its Music Director Jaap van Zweden teaming up with Yuja Wang who returns to perform Tchaikovsky's popular First Piano Concerto (1 & 2 September 2017), and the poetic Piano Concerto no. 2 by Beethoven (8 & 9 September 2017). Yuja Wang will also share the stage with three of the HK Phil's Principals - Jing Wang, Andrew Ling and Richard Bamping in Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio in A minor and Brahms's Piano Quartet no. 1 in G minor (one performance only, 6 September 2017). Single tickets for all three programmes are now available at URBTIX and are selling fast.

Maestro Jaap van Zweden has become a major musical presence on three continents over the last decade. Under his baton, the HK Phil will perform Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (1 & 2 September 2017), with its primal rhythms and monumental power, as well as Mahler's Fifth Symphony (8 & 9 September 2017), with its themes of death, love and the innocence of nature.

Musical America's Artist of the Year 2017, Yuja Wang has secured a place of distinction among the world's finest performers due to her rare blend of technical refinement, musical insight and emotional sensitivity. 'Charismatic', 'breathtaking', 'flawless' and 'heartfelt' are just some of the superlatives used frequently by critics worldwide. Yuja's love for fashion has also contributed to the popular appeal of an artist who is armed with the ability to challenge convention and win fresh converts to classical music.

Season Opening: Jaap & Yuja; Yuja & Friends: A Chamber Night; and Yuja's Beethoven & Mahler 5 are accredited events celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

QBE is the Title Sponsor of the Opening Night Concert.

9 September performance is sponsored by Sunwah Kingsway.

Season Opening: Jaap and Yuja (1 & 2 Sep)

Yuja teams up with Maestro van Zweden in Tchaikovsky's spectacular, show-stopping Piano Concerto no. 1. This evening of dazzling Russian masterpieces reaches its climax with Stravinsky's stunning score to The Rite of Spring. Famously setting the world of music and ballet alight at the dawn of the 20th century, this masterpiece still excites and stimulates audiences today with its amazing raw and primal rhythms.

Yuja & Friends: A Chamber Night (6 Sep)

Yuja enjoys an intimate encounter with three HK Phil Principals in a programme of emotionally-charged and profoundly beautiful chamber music. Tchaikovsky dedicated his moving Piano Trio to his former teacher, Nikolai Rubinstein, subtitling it 'In Memory of a Great Artist', while Brahms wrote his profound Piano Quartet in G minor in memory of Robert Schumann whose widow, Clara, performed in its premiere.

Yuja's Beethoven and Mahler 5 (8 & 9 Sep)

Great music full of emotional peaks and troughs! Yuja will guide us through Beethoven's graceful and poetic Second Piano Concerto, while Jaap van Zweden presents Mahler's stupendous Fifth Symphony, the first time he has conducted this major score in Hong Kong. Movie-buffs know this symphony through its ravishing Adagietto used in Visconti's Death in Venice, but the symphony embraces the whole gamut of human experience.

Season Opening: Jaap & Yuja will be held on 1 & 2 September 2017 (Fri & Sat), 8PM, in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced: HK$880, $680, $480, $380 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit www.hkphil.org.

Yuja & Friends: A Chamber Night will be held on 6 September 2017 (Wed), 8PM, in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced: HK$680, $480, $380, $280 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit www.hkphil.org.

Yuja's Beethoven and Mahler 5 will be held on 8 & 9 September 2017 (Fri & Sat), 8PM, in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced: HK$880, $680, $480, $380 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit www.hkphil.org.

Artists

Jaap van Zweden, conductor [full biography]

Over the last decade, conductor Jaap van Zweden has become an international presence on three continents. The 17/18 season marks a major milestone as he completes his ten-year tenure as Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and simultaneously is Music Director Designate in New York, anticipating his inaugural season (2018/19) as the 26th Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. He continues as Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, a post he has held since 2012. Born in Amsterdam, Jaap van Zweden was the youngest ever Concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He began his conducting career in 1995 and in 2012 was named Musical America's Conductor of the Year.

Yuja Wang, piano [full biography]

Named as Musical America's Artist of the Year 2017, Yuja Wang was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007 when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Two years later she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and has since established her place among the world's leading artists with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and recordings.

Jing Wang, violin [full biography]

Jing Wang studied at The Juilliard School and completed post-graduate studies at the Shepherd School of Music (Rice University). He was Concertmaster for the Dallas Opera for three years before taking up his appointment as Concertmaster with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in September 2013. He plays a 1760 G.B. Guadagnini violin, a loan arranged by the YS Liu Foundation.

Andrew Ling, viola [full biography]

A native of Hong Kong, Andrew Ling is currently the Principal Violist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed solo performances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra to critical acclaim. Ling completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at the Indiana University, and has studied at Rice University in Houston. He studied with Henryk Kowalski, Ik-Hwan Bae, Alan de Veritch and Cho-Liang Lin.

Richard Bamping, cello [full biography]

Richard Bamping has been the Principal Cellist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 1993. He has performed with many of the finest musicians of recent history - Yehudi Menuhin, Leonidas Kavakos, Mstislav Rostropovich, Carlo Maria Guilini, Valery Gergiev, Leonard Bernstein, Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis and Claudio Abbado.

Photo Credit: DG Norbert Kniat