Change of Conductor – David Stern to replace Jaap van Zweden in All-Mozart Programme on 23 & 24 June 2017

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[31 March 2017, Hong Kong] The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) announces that, for family reasons, Maestro Jaap van Zweden has to withdraw from his advertised programme on 23 & 24 June 2017. The advertised soloist and programme remain unchanged.

Jaap’s replacement in these concerts is David Stern, whose extensive repertoire ranges from period-instrument performances through to contemporary opera. Previously Music Director of the Israeli Opera and Switzerland’s St Gallen Symphony Orchestra & Opera, he has conducted leading orchestras in Asia, Europe and the USA, including the Shanghai and Vienna Symphony orchestras as well as Boston Lyric Opera.

The concerts feature an enticing all-Mozart programme that includes the dramatic Overture to The Magic Flute and the remarkable Symphony no. 39, one of the last symphonies Mozart composed in what has been described as “the most astonishing period of rapid creativity in all musical history”.

Renowned Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan, the first and current Artist-in-Association of the New York Philharmonic (“a complete artist: a wonderful pianist, a probing intellect, passionately committed”, Alan Gilbert, Music Director of the New York Philharmonic), plays Piano Concerto no. 23, a sunny, lyrical masterpiece from Mozart’s Viennese period.

We take this opportunity to thank our public for their understanding. Kindly contact our ticketing office at 2721 2332 or cs@hkphil.org for ticketing enquiries.

Swire Maestro Series: Mozart Delight will be held on 23 & 24 June (Fri & Sat) at 8PMin the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Ticket prices: HK$680, $480, $380, $280 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit www.hkphil.org

Artists
David Stern, conductor [full biography]
David Stern's musical leadership is spread across three continents. He is the founder and director of the Paris-based opera company and period-instrument ensemble, Opera Fuoco, as well as artistic advisor and principal conductor of the Shanghai Baroque Festival. He is chief conductor of the Palm Beach Opera in Florida and music director of opera at the Crested Butte Music Festival in Colorado. Stern is known for his extensive range of repertoire. He is a frequent guest around the globe with symphonic and chamber orchestras.

Inon Barnatan, piano[full biography]
"One of the most admired pianists of his generation" (New York Times), Inon Barnatan is celebrated for his poetic sensibility, musical intelligence, and consummate artistry. He was a recipient of Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award in 2015, recognising "young artists of exceptional accomplishment," as well as the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2009. Born in Tel Aviv in 1979, Inon Barnatan started playing the piano at the age of, and he made his orchestral debut at eleven.

SWIRE MAESTRO SERIES: MOZART DELIGHT
23 & 24 | 6 | 2017
FRI & SAT 8PM
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$680 $480 $380 $280
Tickets are now available at URBTIX
For ages 6 and above

Artist

Programme

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 being recorded live for the Naxos label are winning rave reviews internationally; 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 toured to Taiwan, Europe and Mainland China. The orchestra will undertake an ambitious five-city tour to Seoul, Osaka, Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney in April and May 2017 in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR.

Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Yo-Yo Ma, 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.