A Father's Day Special! Jaap van Zweden leads the HK Phil to celebrate the day with the Hong Kong community and to promote a harmonious and integrated society through music
A Father's Day Concert (17 June)
19 JUN 2018
Hong Kong
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Meggy Cheng
Director of Marketing
Tel: (852) 2721 9035
Email: meggy.cheng@hkphil.org
Flora Fung
Media Relations and Communications Manager
Tel: (852) 2721 1585
Email: flora.fung@hkphil.org
[19 June 2018, Hong Kong] 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 HK Phil strives not only to present the finest concerts to our audience, but also to introduce classical music to the community. Presenting admission-free programmes and regularly greeting and performing for the wider community, including people with special needs, is central to our education and outreach work. Jaap van Zweden shares the very same passion as the orchestra for giving world-class music to those in-needs. Maestro van Zweden said, “Music is food for the soul. We wish to promote a harmonious and integrated society through music. I am very happy that nearly 1,300 people join us and share the day and the music together at this meaningful Father’s Day concert". Having a son with autism, Maestro van Zweden and his wife Aaltje established the Papageno Foundation in 1997 to support families with autistic children, using music as a means of reaching out to them.
For this concert, we made some adjustments to the programme to help the audience feel more comfortable and at ease, including adjustments to the lighting and letting the audience move about. There were also other sensory accommodations. Staff and volunteers of the HK Phil attended a workshop in order to understand more about people with special needs and so as to bring a good experience to each and every person in the audience. The HK Phil is truly thankful for the support of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and all volunteers, whose support made this concert run so smoothly and been so successful.
The HK Phil also wishes to express its deepest gratitude for the generous support of the public. Following a two-week online campaign, we are thrilled to have received HK$70,000 in donations which help us bring more people to enjoy sharing beautiful classical music with family and friends.
The HK Phil's acclaimed Education and Outreach programmes provide concerts and resources for everyone. About 40,000 people participate in our programmes every year. We will continue to organise these meaningful programmes for the community and spread the delight of inspiring through the finest music-making. For more information about our Education and Outreach programmes, click here.
Click the thumbnails to download press photos
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The audience arriving A Father’s Day Concert | Nearly 1,300 people joined A Father’s Day Concert and shared the day and the music with families, friends and the HK Phil | |
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HK Phil’s Music Director Jaap van Zweden invited the audience to play together with the orchestra by clapping their hands | Post-concert activity - an interactive demonstration of percussion instruments |
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. Presenting more than 150 concerts over a 44-week season, the HK Phil 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 2022. Maestro van Zweden will be the next Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from the 2018/19 season.
Yu Long was appointed Principal Guest Conductor with the HK Phil for a three-year period commencing with the 2015/16 season.
Under the dynamic leadership of Music Director Jaap van Zweden, the HK Phil has attained new heights of artistic excellence, garnering international critical acclaim.
Following on from the success of the European tour which included a filmed concert from Vienna’s Musikverein, the HK Phil has toured extensively within the mainland China. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, and with support of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices, the orchestra recently performed in Seoul, Osaka, Singapore, Melbourne and at the Sydney Opera House.
Jaap, the HK Phil, a superb cast of soloists and a chorus successfully completed the four-year epic “Ring Cycle” journey in January 2018. The concert performances and live Naxos recordings have been enthusiastically received by audiences and praised by critics at home and abroad. The recording of Götterdämmerung will be released towards the end of 2018.
Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Matthias Goerne, Stephen Hough, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Ning Feng and Yuja Wang.
The HK Phil promotes the work of Hong Kong and Chinese composers through an active commissioning programme, and has released recordings on the Naxos label featuring Tan Dun and Bright Sheng, each conducting their own compositions. Its acclaimed education and community engagement programmes in schools, hospital and outdoor space, bring music into the hearts of tens of thousands of children and families every year.
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 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 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, among others, 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 charitable organisation.
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and is Venue Partner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
SWIRE is the Principal Patron of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.