HK Phil News

The 21st Beijing Music Festival Embraces the East and the West; Leads in a New Direction

Following the successful concert held in May at the 2018 NCPA May Festival in Beijing, China, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), with the tremendous support of the Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China in Beijing, bring the same amazing programme to Hong Kong on 27 June in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. This will help strengthen cultural exchange between Hong Kong and Mainland China, and also share the excitement with Hong Kong audience.

To celebrate Father's Day, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil)'s Music Director Jaap van Zweden conducted an amazing free Father's Day concert at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall on 17 June (Sunday). With a programme comprising all-time favourite classics, we invited the Hong Kong community and around 100 organisations and schools that help people with special needs, to share the joy of classical music with their families and friends.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) closes its 2017/18 season with a dazzling, colourful and glitzy parade of Leonard Bernstein's greatest hits in two consecutive weeks. First in the row is the complete film of West Side Story with live orchestral music under the baton of conductor Jayce Ogren. Next is Celebrate Bernstein On Broadway! conducted by John Wilson and featuring musical and opera theatre stars Lorina Gore, Louise Dearman, Nadim Naaman and Nathaniel Hackmann in famous tunes including New York, New York, Glitter and be Gay, Maria and many more.

As Jaap van Zweden, the esteemed Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil), embarks on his new venture as Music Director of the world-renowned New York Philharmonic starting the 2018/19 season, the HK Phil honours him with this American-themed programme on 22 & 23 June in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil)'s Music Director Jaap van Zweden will be conducting the HK Phil for a series of stunning programmes over three weeks in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Featuring world-renowned violinist James Ehnes and organist Leo van Doeselaar, the first programme on 8 & 9 June will take the audience from America to France through music by American composers Charles Ives and Leonard Bernstein, and the beautiful Organ Symphony by Camille Saint-Saens.

On 18 & 19 May in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is presenting a programme featuring Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, First Prize winner of the Chopin Competition 2010. Under the baton of Hans Graf, one of the most respected Maestros on the podium, Yulianna will be making her debut with the HK Phil, delivering the magic of her touch in Chopin's lovely Second Piano Concerto. Another highlight of the programme is Brahms' soothing Third Symphony.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is proud to present a programme that features one of music's elder statemen, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and young American-Korean violin sensation, Esther Yoo, on 25 & 26 May in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) proudly presents two Songs of the Earth in one programme on 27 & 28 April in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Alongside Mahler's famous settings in a German translation, native Chinese composer, Ye Xiaogang, presents the same seven ancient Chinese poems in their original language.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Society Limited today announces that Michael MacLeod, since April 2011, will retire at the end of March 2019 after eight years in the position.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) announces today that tickets for the additional performance of Joe Hisaishi in Concert on 5 May 2018 3pm will be sold through a pilot implementation of Ticket Ballot and Real-name Ticketing System. This unprecedented ticketing measure shows our determination to prevent unofficial reselling of tickets and aims to ensure that tickets will be made available only for those who genuinely would like to enjoy the concert. 80% of the tickets will be made available for public purchase via this ticketing procedure.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra's "Composers Workshop - Beyond the Ring" Public Working Session and Showcase was held on 13 March 2018 at the Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong. In our commitment to nurturing composing talents in Hong Kong, the HK Phil has organised a series of workshops and a public showcase for six young local composers - Chan Chi-long, Kwok Man-ho, Meilina Tsui Mei-ling, Wong Ching-yin, So Ho-chi, and Wong Chun-wai. Their new works were premiered by the HK Phil under the baton of conductor Sebastian Per?owski, with the honoured attendance of officiating guest Mrs. Angelina Cheung, Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs.

On 13 & 14 April in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil), conductor Zhang Guoyong and violinist Baiba Skride will perform a programme of music composed at critical times in the lives of two Russian composers.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil), together with renowned violinist Ning Feng under the baton of Principal Guest Conductor Yu Long, will bring a taste of Scotland to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. They will tantalise the audience with the sights and sounds of Scotland as revealed by three composers - Mendelssohn, Bruch and Maxwell Davies on 6 & 7 April.

On Sunday, 8 April in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is delighted to present an afternoon concert for all the family featuring great music associated with Great Britain. HK Phil's Principal Guest Conductor Yu Long, the orchestra and violinist Ning Feng will introduce music from British composers Alun Hoddinott, Edward Elgar and Peter Maxwell Davies, as well as British-themed music from non-British composers including Percy Grainger and Max Bruch.

Jun Markl is known for his refined and idiomatic explorations of the French impressionists. In this concert, he marks the centenary of the death of one of France's most famous composers, Claude Debussy, with a performance of his famous evocation of the sea in all its moods, La Mer. Markl will also lead the HK Phil in the Hong Kong premiere of Circulating Ocean, a richly colourful score by Japanese contemporary composer Toshio Hosokawa. The programme also includes Mendelssohn's The Hebrides Overture which portrays the violent seas off the west coast of Scotland, and the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla's highly atmospheric piano concerto, Nights in the Gardens of Spain, performed by Argentinean pianist Ingrid Fliter. (A change from the advertised programme made at the request of the soloist.)

All tickets for the three concerts by the world-renowned Japanese composer-conductor Joe Hisaishi with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall have been sold out. Maestro Hisaishi has happily agreed to perform an additional concert with the HK Phil, to be held on 5 May 2018 (Sat, 3PM). Aligning with the other three performances, 80% of the tickets will be made available for public purchase. The remaining tickets will be allocated to the HK Phil's sponsors and partners.

2018 is the centenary of the end of World War One and also the 70th birthday of Polish Animation. In the upcoming Swire Classic Insights, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) will present fabulous music, on-stage commentary, and live animation in three concerts to be held on 2 March (Fri), 3 March (Sat) and 16 March (Fri) at 8pm in the Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong. Registration is required. Ticket registration begins on 13 February 2018.

With the last note of Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) reached the conclusion of its 4-year epic journey through Wagner's Ring Cycle. The HK Phil is proud to announce the completion of these first-ever performances in Hong Kong, recorded for enjoyment and posterity by Naxos. This awe-inspiring project would never be possible without the HKSAR Government's generous support in granting the HK Phil the contestable funding for four consecutive years. In fact, the HKSAR Government not only supported this financially, but also in person, and it was a great honour to have Ms Michelle Li, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services (LCSD), and other senior members of the Home Affairs Bureau and the LCSD joining on 18th January to celebrate the end of this vast masterpiece.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) will present romantic love songs from classic movies this Valentine's Day, 14 February 2018 (Wed), 8PM, in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, including: Gone with the Wind: Tara's Theme Lyrics were later added to the theme by Mack David and became the song My Own True Love, sung by Margaret Whiting and widely known since its release in October 1948.