The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Unveils 2023/24 Season Celebrating 50 Years Of Artistic Excellence

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) has announced its 2023/24 Season, marking the orchestra's 50th professional season as well as the final season led by Jaap van Zweden as Music Director of the HK Phil. This season HK Phil performs 34 mainstage programmes and tours to more than 18 cities in Mainland China, Asia and Europe.

 

Jaap van Zweden shares: “It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the HK Phil's 50th season, which also marks the end of my tenure as its Music Director. It has been my honour to lead this incredible orchestra over the past twelve seasons, and I am grateful for the unwavering support of all the classical music lovers in Hong Kong. I am immensely proud of the transformation the orchestra has achieved during our time together, and I hope that this season will be a memorable and unforgettable experience for you all.”

 

Highlights of the HK Phil's golden jubilee include:

• Nine programmes conducted by Jaap van Zweden in his farewell season featuring Joshua Bell, Rudolf Buchbinder, Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang and Alexandre Kantorow. Following the great success and critical acclaim of the Ring Cycle in concert, Jaap will lead world-class vocalists and the HK Phil to perform Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman. For his farewell programme, he will conduct a concert of audience favourites to be selected via a public poll.

• Programmes led by a notable line-up of internationally-acclaimed guest conductors – Paavo Järvi, Vasily Petrenko, Tarmo Peltokoski, Michael Sanderling, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Kahchun Wong, HK Phil Principal Guest Conductor Yu Long, Resident Conductor Lio Kuokman, and others.      

• Distinguished HK Phil musicians and Hong Kong artists join the stage – Jing Wang, Richard Bamping, Nitiphum Bamrungbanthum, Lorenzo Iosco, Andrew Simon and James Boznos from the HK Phil; Hong Kong musicians including Rachel Cheung, Samantha Chong, Yuki Ip, Jacky Leung, Louise Kwong, Warren Lee, Ted Lo, Freddie Tsang, Eugene Pao, Janice Vidal, Apollo Wong, Caleb Woo, Vivian Yau, Chen Yong, Dani Zhang Jingdan, musicians from Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the HK Phil Chorus, HKU Chamber singers; as well as Hong Kong composers Anthony Au, Daniel Lo, and more. Celebrated artist Sylvia Chang will also grace the stage with her performance.

• Tours to Mainland China, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, Italy and Belgium. 

• In celebration of the HK Phil's 50th anniversary, over 5,000 HK Phil Jubilee Tickets will be offered to the public at HK$50.

• Discounts up to 30% will be offered during the subscription period.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is recognised as one of Asia's foremost classical orchestras. Presenting more than 150 concerts over a 44-week season, the HK Phil attracts more than 200,000 music lovers annually. The HK Phil won the prestigious UK classical music magazine Gramophone's 2019 Orchestra of the Year Award – the first orchestra in Asia to receive this accolade.

 

Jaap van Zweden, SBS, one of today's most sought-after conductors, has been the orchestra's Music Director since the 2012/13 Season, a position he will hold until the end of the 2023/24 Season. Maestro van Zweden has also been Music Director of the New York Philharmonic since the 2018/19 Season.

 

Yu Long has been Principal Guest Conductor since the 2015/16 Season.

 

Lio Kuokman, JP was appointed Resident Conductor in December 2020.

 

Under the dynamic leadership of Jaap van Zweden, the HK Phil has attained new heights of artistic excellence, receiving international critical acclaim. The orchestra successfully completed a four-year journey through Wagner's Ring Cycle, performing and recording one opera from the cycle annually from 2015 to 2018. The concert performances were enthusiastically received by audiences, and the live Naxos recordings were praised by critics and garnered the Gramophone Orchestra of the Year Award 2019.

 

The HK Phil has toured extensively across Mainland China and, with the support of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices, it undertook a major tour in 2017 to Seoul, Osaka, Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. 

 

Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Anja Bihlmaier, Stéphane Denève, Christoph Eschenbach, Paavo Järvi, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Vasily Petrenko, Krzysztof Urbański, Ning Feng, Boris Giltburg, Olivier Latry, Akiko Suwanai, etc.

 

The HK Phil promotes the work of Hong Kong and Chinese composers through an active commissioning programme, and it has released recordings on the Naxos label featuring Tan Dun and Bright Sheng conducting their own compositions. Its acclaimed education and community engagement programmes in schools, hospitals, and outdoor spaces, bring music into the hearts of tens of thousands of children and families every year. Founded in 2021, “The Orchestra Academy Hong Kong”, funded by “TrustTomorrow” of The Swire Group Charitable Trust and co-directed with The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, aims at enhancing professional training for graduates from The HKAPA's School of Music to facilitate their career development in the orchestral field.

 

The Swire Group has been the Principal Patron of the HK Phil since 2006. Through this sponsorship, which is the largest in the orchestra's history, Swire endeavours to promote artistic excellence, foster access to classical music, stimulate cultural participation in Hong Kong, and enhance Hong Kong's reputation as one of the great cities in the world.

 

Thanks to a significant subsidy from the Government of the HKSAR and long-term funding from Principal Patron Swire, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and other supporters, the HK Phil now boasts a full-time annual schedule of core classical repertoire and innovative popular programming, extensive education and community programmes, and collaborations with, amongst others, Hong Kong Ballet, Opera Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

 

Originally called the Sino-British Orchestra, it was renamed the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957 and became fully professional in 1974. The HK Phil is a registered charitable organisation.

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