HK Phil to Host Closing Concert of 2024 Youth Music Culture the Greater Bay Area

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra will prsent the Closing Concert of the 2024 Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area (YMCG). Set to take place from 20 January to 1 February 2024, the YMCG has been presented by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism since 2017. The project will be hosted by five music institutions in the Greater Bay Area, namely the HK Phil, the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra (GSO), Xinghai Concert Hall, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra and Macao Orchestra, for the first time in 2024. As a grand finale, the Closing Concert will be held on 31 January 2024 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.    

The Chairman of the Artistic Committee of the YMCG is Long Yu, Principal Guest Conductor of the HK Phil and Life Honorary Music Director of the GSO. The Music Director of the YMCG is Daniel Harding, Music and Artistic Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.    

A three-day worldwide audition was conducted from 28 to 30 October 2023 in Shenzhen. A total of 84 talented performers were selected to join the 2024 YMCG and form a youth orchestra. 55 of them are from renowned music schools and universities in Mainland China and Overseas. Institutions in the China include the Central Conservatory of Music of China, the China Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Tianjin Juilliard School, as well as the most important music institutions in the Greater Bay Area – The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou and The School of Music of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen). Overseas institutions include Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore; New England Conservatory of Music and Juilliard School in the US; Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in the UK; University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar in Germany; University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in Austria; Kyung Hee University in South Korea, etc. They are joined by 24 young musicians from 16 professional Chinese orchestras, and five individuals from other industries.

The selection panel consists of renowned violinist Vera Xu, Director of Orchestral Studies and Academic Department of the School of Music of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen; Huang Yi, the Music Director of the GSO; and Lorenzo Iosco, the HK Phil’s Associate Principal Bass Clarinet. The entire audition was supervised by Chen Qing, Director of YMCG Executive Committee and President of the GSO.

Over the span of two weeks, the 2024 YMCG will feature an array of events including symphonic concerts, chamber concerts, masterclasses, community performances, chamber music salons, faculty workshops, open rehearsals and "Music + Dialogue" events. Concerts open to the public will be presented in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong.

Under the guidance and mentorship of Daniel Harding, as well as 13 professional musicians from international orchestras, including the HK Phil’s Principal Bassoon Benjamin Moermond and Associate Principal Bass Clarinet Lorenzo Iosco, the young musicians will come together to deliver the Closing Concert in Hong Kong. The evening will commence with Aureate Skylines (Hong Kong premiere) by Hong Kong composer Elliot Leung, and conclude with Dvořák’s Symphony no. 9, From the New World . One of the brightest shining young violinists Vilde Frang and violist Amihai Grosz from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra will grace the stage and perform Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante along with the youth orchestra.   

In collaboration with the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), a masterclass and a chamber music concert will be held on 1 February 2024 (Thu). Details will be announced on YMCG’s website www.ymcgchina.com, HKAPA’s website hkapa.edu and HK Phil’s website hkphil.org.

“2024 Youth Music Culture the Greater Bay Area Closing Concert” will be held on 31 January 2024 (Wed) at 8pm in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$580, $460, $340 and $220 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

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Artists
 

Daniel Harding, conductor

Daniel Harding is the Music and Artistic Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was the Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris from 2016 to 2019 and Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 2007 to 2017. He is honoured with the lifetime title of Conductor Laureate of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with whom he has worked for over 20 years. In 2020, he was named Conductor in Residence of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 Seasons. In 2024, he will take up the position of Music Director of the Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area for a five-year term.
 

Vilde Frang, violin 

Vilde Frang was unanimously awarded the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award in 2012 and made her debut with the Vienna Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival. Highlights among her recent and forthcoming solo engagements include performances with Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestre de Paris, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, Santa Cecilia Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and the NHK Symphony in Tokyo.
 

Amihai Grosz, viola 

Amihai Grosz was a quartet player (founding member of the Jerusalem Quartet) at first, then and until today Principal Violist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and also a renowned soloist. At a very early age, he received various grants and prizes and was a member of the “Young Musicians Group” of the Jerusalem Music Center, a program for outstanding young musical talents. As a soloist, Grosz has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Tugan Sokhiev, Klaus Mäkelä, Ariel Zukermann, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, Alexander Vedernikov and Lionel Bringuier. He performs internationally with orchestras such as the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.
 

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