Maestro Jaap van Zweden Makes His Tour Début with
Hong Kong Philharmonic in “Hong Kong Week 2013@Taipei”

Download HERE
 

The Hong Kong Philharmonic (HK Phil) is proud to announce that it will perform for one night only in Taipei this coming December. This performance will mark the tour debut of Music Director Jaap van Zweden with the orchestra.

As part of Hong Kong Week 2013 presented by Hong Kong-Taiwan Cultural Co-operation Committee, the HK Phil, under the direction of Maestro van Zweden will be performing two great revolutionary showpieces of classical music - Beethoven's dazzling and breathtaking Violin Concerto, with virtuoso Ning Feng as soloist, and Shostakovich's dramatic and powerful Fifth Symphony.

Beethoven's concerto revolutionised the way composers regarded the instrument, for the first time thrusting it into the spotlight as a heroic figurehead. Over a century later, burdened down by threats from an oppressive political environment, Shostakovich turned near disaster into total triumph with his Fifth Symphony. Hear Jaap's extraordinarily vivid interpretation of these two unique examples of musical revolution.

Hong Kong Week 2013: Hong Kong Philharmonic - Jaap’s Shostakovich 5 will be held on 11 December 2013 (Wednesday), 7:30pm, at the Zhongshan Hall, Taipei.

The concert is sponsored by Fubon Bank.

In addition to the concert performance, musicians from the HK Phil will be conducting two Masterclasses with some of Taiwan’s most promising young musicians. Jing Wang, Concertmaster of the HK Phil will work with young violinists at a masterclass in advance of the orchestra’s arrival in Taipei. And on the day of the concert, the orchestra’s woodwind principal players will collaborate in a session with emerging wind instrument players at the Zhongshan Hall, Taipei.

Hailed as one of the cultural centrepieces of Hong Kong, the HK Phil - now in its 40th professional season but with roots stretching back over a century - attracts over 200,000 music lovers to its annual series of 150 concerts. The orchestra and Maestro van Zweden, Musical America's Conductor of the Year 2012, are delighted to be bringing their acclaimed intensity of performance to music-lovers in Taipei.

Jaap van Zweden, conductor [Full biography]

"Jaap van Zweden takes the Hong Kong Philharmonic to the next level, bringing the rich and warm sounds of a top European orchestra to concert-goers."

–-- Yazhou Zhoukan

Amsterdam-born Jaap van Zweden has risen rapidly in little more than a decade to become one of today’s most sought-after conductors. He has been Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 2008, and in September 2012 took up the position of Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Appointed at nineteen as the youngest concertmaster ever of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, he began his conducting career in 1995 and held the positions of Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (1996-2000), Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague (2000-2005), Chief Conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra (2008-2011) and Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Radio Chamber Orchestras from 2005-2011. He remains Honorary Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Conductor Emeritus of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra. Jaap van Zweden was named Musical America's Conductor of the Year 2012 in recognition of his critically acclaimed work as Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and as a guest conductor with the most prestigious US orchestras. He works regularly with the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and the Royal Concertgebouw. He recently conducted the Berlin Philharmonic.

Ning Feng, violin [Full biography]
Born in Chengdu, China, Ning Feng studied at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, London. The recipient of prizes at the Hanover International, Queen Elisabeth and Yehudi Menuhin International violin competitions, Ning Feng was First Prize winner of the 2005 Michael Hill International Violin Competition (New Zealand), and in 2006 he won first prize in the International Paganini Competition. Ning Feng’s performances in his native country have included a tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer in 2010. Ning Feng is developing a reputation internationally as an artist of great lyricism and emotional transparency, displaying tremendous bravura and awe-inspiring technical accomplishment. Recent highlights include his débuts at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, at Moscow’s Great Hall with the Russian State Symphony and Jurowski, at the Vienna Konzerthaus with the China National Symphony and at the prestigious Vancouver Recital Series.

Hong Kong Week 2013@Taipei:
Hong Kong Philharmonic - Jaap’s Shostakovich 5
11 | 12 | 2013
WED 7:30PM
Zhongshan Hall, Taipei
TWD $2000, $1500, $1000, $500 (Discount schemes available)

Ticketing enquiries: +886 2 3393 9888
Programme enquiries: +852 2721 2332 (Hong Kong) / +886 2 2720 8578 (Taiwan)

The concert is sponsored by Fubon Bank

Click the thumbnail to download photos
Jaap van Zweden Photo credit: Keith Hiro / Hong Kong Philharmonic	Ning Feng Photo credit: Simon Wall / Intermusica	Hong Kong Philharmonic Photo credit: Cheung Chi Wai / HK Phil

HONG KONG PHILHARMONIC
Music Director: Jaap van Zweden

The Hong Kong Philharmonic is a vital part of Hong Kong’s cultural life, as the city’s largest and busiest musical organisation. In 2013/14 the HK Phil celebrates its 40th professional season, but its roots are well over a century old. The HK Phil has now evolved to become an orchestral powerhouse in the region, and an acclaimed cultural centrepiece of Asia’s World City.

The HK Phil is formed on the belief that a great city deserves a great orchestra. Annually it presents over 150 concerts for 200,000 music lovers. Featuring an enviable roster of international conductors and soloists, the HK Phil performs a broad variety of music, with many concerts presented free, among them the annual Swire Symphony Under The Stars. Through its acclaimed education programme, over 40,000 young people learned about orchestral music last year.

The Swire Group Charitable Trust has been the Principal Patron of the HK Phil since 2006. Swire’s enlightened support, the most generous in the orchestra’s history, continues to enable the orchestra to reach towards high artistic goals.

The HK Phil’s members come from every corner of the globe, joining its strong core of Hong Kong musicians. In September 2012, Jaap van Zweden became the orchestra’s Music Director. Future years will see an ambitious series of new projects, with major international tours, renewed local partnerships, and large-scale concert events. The HK Phil has commenced a multi-CD recording project for Naxos, featuring works by Chinese composers.

SWIRE is the Principal Patron of the Hong Kong Philharmonic
The Hong Kong Philharmonic is a Venue Partner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre

# # #