20,000 music lovers share the excitement of the annual outdoor extravaganza – Swire Symphony Under The Stars (12 Nov 2016)

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[12 November 2016, Hong Kong] The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) presented its annual Swire Symphony Under The Stars concert to an audience of around 20,000at Central Harbourfront on 12 November (Saturday), with great music performed by the HK Phil and local talents conducted by Nicholas Carter with Hong Kong’s iconic skyline as the backdrop.

The event began with a simple ceremony hosted by Mr YS Liu, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society, and Mr John Slosar, Chairman of Swire Pacific Limited. Master of Ceremonies, Harry Wong (aka Harry Goh Goh), welcomed conductor Nicholas Carter to the stage and the orchestra performed Rossini’s Overture to The Barber of Seville. Hong Kong sand painting artist Hoi Chiu returned to create many wonderful images while the orchestra played Khachaturian’s Spartacus Adagio and Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Young Hong Kong born pianist Chiyan Wong thrilled the audience with Liszt’s dazzling Fantasy on Themes from Beethoven’s Ruins of Athens, and after more beautiful music, the concert ended with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture completed with stunning fireworks display. Throughout the concert, Harry Goh Goh not only gave interesting introductions to each musical performance, but also played interactive games with our audiences during the interval.

The HK Phil wishes to express its deepest gratitude for the generous and continued support from Swire, as well as to Hong Kong’s music lovers who have helped make Swire Symphony Under The Stars such a hugely popular event over the past ten years.

Swire Symphony Under The Stars will reach far beyond the people who attended in person; the event was recorded by RTHK TV and RTHK Radio 4 for broadcast.

TV Broadcast
The audio-visual recording will be broadcasted via RTHK TV31, RTHK TV31A and tv.rthk.hk on 21 January 2017 (Sat) at 11pm.

Radio Broadcast
The radio broadcast is scheduled for 31 December 2016 (Sat) at 8pm with a repeat on 5 January 2017 (Thu) at 2pm on RTHK Radio 4 (FM Stereo 97.6-98.9 MHz and www.rthk.hk).

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Principal Patron: SWIRE
Sponsor: Tom Lee Music
Media Partner: RTHK Television Division, RTHK Radio 4 & RTHK TV31

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Music Director: Jaap van Zweden
Principal Guest Conductor: Yu Long

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is recognised as Asia’s foremost classical orchestra. The Orchestra presents more than 150 concerts over a 44-week season and attracts more than 200,000 music lovers annually.

Jaap van Zweden, one of today’s most sought-after conductors, has been the Orchestra’s Music Director since the 2012/13 concert season, a position he will continue to hold until at least 2022. In addition, Maestro van Zweden will also be the next Music Director of the New York Philharmonic starting with the 2018/19 season.

Yu Long was appointed for an initial three-year term in the 2015/16 season as Principal Guest Conductor.

Under Maestro van Zweden, the HK Phil is undertaking a variety of initiatives including a four-year project to perform and record the complete Ring of the Nibelung (Richard Wagner). The Orchestra is in the third of this four-year journey, performing one opera annually in concert. The performances are being recorded live for the Naxos label and mark the first performances by a Hong Kong or mainland Chinese orchestra of the entire Ring cycle.

Also under van Zweden, the orchestra has undertaken tours to Taiwan, Europe and, for a second time to Mainland China, with recent concerts in Shanghai, Tianjin and Beijing.

Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ning Feng, Matthias Goerne, Lang Lang, Yu Long, Yundi Li, the late Lorin Maazel, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yuja Wang.

The HK Phil promotes the work of Hong Kong and Chinese composers through an active commissioning programme, and has released recordings featuring Tan Dun and Bright Sheng, each conducting their own compositions, on the Naxos label. Its acclaimed community engagement programme brings music to tens of thousands of children annually. A recording was issued free to schoolchildren throughout Hong Kong of Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Leopold Mozart’s Toy Symphony.

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 also endeavours to promote artistic excellence, foster access to classical music and stimulate cultural participation in Hong Kong, and to enhance Hong Kong’s reputation as one of the great cities of the world.

Thanks to a significant subsidy from the Hong Kong Government and long-term funding from Principal Patron Swire, the Hong Kong Jockey Club and other supporters, the HK Phil now boasts a full-time annual schedule of classical music concerts, pops concerts, an extensive education programme, and collaborations for staged opera with Opera Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

The Orchestra celebrated its 40th season as a professional orchestra in 2013/14.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
SWIRE is the Principal Patron of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is a Venue Partner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.