Bach to the Future – a cutting edge listening experience (24 & 25 June)

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[1 June 2016, Hong Kong] The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s (HK Phil) Swire Denim Series takes a thrilling turn with “Bach to the Future” – a fascinating fusion of classic elegant music from the Baroque period with modern, experimental music of today.

The concert combines works by Baroque composers Rebel, Purcell and Bach with 20th-century masters Arvo Pärt and György Ligeti. Ligeti was American film-maker Stanley Kubrick’s favourite composer; he shot to fame when Kubrick used some of his music in 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut.

“It is a misconception that the only great music was written in the 19th century and before,” said conductor Case Scaglione, who crafted this programme specifically for the HK Phil. “Ligeti is one of the real masters of the 20th century. He elevates impressionist ideas that started at the beginning of the 20th century and uses them in such an incredible way”. Case will provide commentary throughout the concert to guide our audience through this musical excursion.

The programme features two outstanding soloists. Hong Kong pianist Colleen Lee will star in Bach’s Concerto no 5, originally thought to be written for violin and with both lyrical flow and bracing vitality. Versatile young American violinist Caroline Goulding will thrill the audience with Ligeti’s Violin Concerto, a piece with perpetually changing sounds and streams of colour. 

“This concert will be an emotionally stirring event and will make a profound impact,” Case said. “Sometimes people are hesitant about new music, but the audience needs to let the language wash over them and enjoy its brilliance.”

Wind-up Metronomes Wanted!
Prior to the performances on 24 & 25 June, Ligeti’s Poème Symphonique for 100 Metronomes will be “performed” in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Foyer (starting at 8:15pm). The HK Phil is now “recruiting” 100 wind-up metronomes for the occasion. Lend us your metronome and make it part of the performance and you will be rewarded. For more details please contact education@hkphil.org or visit www.hkphil.org

This Swire Denim Series concert is 70 minutes of tantalising music. After the concerts, patrons can join our musicians at the post-concert party in Deli & Wine. Party tickets are sold in the foyer at our concert at $80 per person, first-come, first-served.

Swire Denim Series: Bach and beyond will be held on 24 & 25 June(Fri & Sat), 9PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Ticket prices: HK$380, $280, HK$220, $180 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit www.hkphil.org.

Free Pre-concert talks are available before both concerts.

Artists
Case Scaglione, conductor [full biography]
Case Scaglione is currently the Associate Conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked with different orchestras including St. Louis, Baltimore and Houston symphony orchestras. He was awarded the Aspen Conducting Prize in 2010. In 2011, he received the Conductor’s Prize from the Solti Foundation US.

Caroline Goulding, violin [full biography]
Named “precociously gifted” by the Gramophone magazine, violinist Caroline Goulding has appeared as a soloist with many important orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and the National Symphony etc. She is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, a Grammy nomination for her début album and has made appearance on various TV programmes.

Colleen Lee, piano [full biography]
Hailed by the New York Concert Reviews as “an extraordinarily talented young pianist”, Colleen Lee is one of the most brilliant pianists of the younger generations. She has also been a featured artist at several international music festivals including the International Chopin Festival, International Keyboard Festival in New York and the 2007 Hong Kong Arts Festival. Colleen as a soloist, who has collaborated with major international orchestras such as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, China Philharmonic Orchestra, and Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra.

Swire Denim Series: Bach and beyond
24 & 25 | 6 | 2016
FRI & SAT 9PM
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$380 $280 $220 $180
Tickets are now available at URBTIX
For ages 6 and above

Artists

Click the thumbnail to download photos
Case Scaglione	Caroline Goulding Photo Credit: Jamie Jung
Colleen Lee	The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Photo: Jason Ma

Pogramme

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, is the Orchestra’s Music Director, a position he has held since the 2012/13 concert season. Maestro van Zweden was recently announced as the next Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. This appointment will not affect his tenure with the HK Phil; his commitment to the HK Phil extends at least to the summer of 2019.

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 second 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 undertook a highly successful five-country, seven-city tour of Europe in the 2014/15 season, with concerts in London, Vienna, Zurich, Eindhoven, Birmingham, Berlin and Amsterdam. Performances were met with enthusiasm and universally positive reviews. The concert in Vienna’s Musikverein was filmed for broadcast on TV.

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’s history stretches back to 1895, when it was formed as the Sino-British Orchestra. It was re-named in 1957 and became fully professional in 1974.

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.