Explore the Baroque with Bach & Co. and a rare double concerto

Download HERE

[26 January 2017, Hong Kong] The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is presenting a special programme led by Dutch conductor and recorder virtuoso Erik Bosgraaf. On 10 & 11 February inside the Concert Hall of the Hong Kong City Hall, the audience will savour the rich and colourful bounty of Baroque music in masterpieces by Telemann, Vivaldi and Bach.

Erik Bosgraaf is described by AllMusicReview as “one of a group of Young Turks giving fresh attention to the Baroque recorder repertory, with often spectacular results”. Joining him and the HK Phil is harpsichordist Alessandro Pianu and Principal Bassoon Benjamin Moermond for Telemann’s spirited Double Concerto, a rare work highlighting the two extremities of the Baroque woodwind spectrum. This promises to be an evening of magic and sparkle.  

City Hall: Bach & Co.will be held on 10 & 11February (Fri & Sat) at 8PMin the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall. Ticket prices: HK$480, $380, $280, $180 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit www.hkphil.org

Artists
Erik Bosgraaf, conductor & recorder [full biography]
Erik Bosgraaf is generally considered to be one of the world's best recorder players. His repertoire extends from Vivaldi to tomorrow's music. As a soloist, Bosgraaf has worked with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden, the Residentie Orkest The Hague, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra. He has received the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award (2009), Nederlandse Muziekprijs (2011), ECHO Rising Star (2011/2012) and the Northern Dutch music prize Het Gouden Viooltje (2012).

Alessandro Pianu, harpsichord [full biography]
Born in Sardinia (Italy), Alessandro Pianu was prize-winner at the International Harpsichord Competition in Budapest in 2000, and he was awarded the first prize at the Ninth Harpsichord Competition of Bologna the following year. Alessandro Pianu has played in major venues, festivals and opera houses. Together with Erik Bosgraaf (recorders) and Izhar Elias (guitar), Pianu is a co-founder of Ensemble Cordevento, which performs in concert halls and festivals across Europe and Asia.

Benjamin Moermond, bassoon [full biography]
Benjamin Moermond has been principal bassoonist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 2010. Prior to joining the HK Phil, Benjamin completed his studies at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Judith LeClair. Ben is originally from Cincinnati, USA and he is now an active teacher and performer in Hong Kong and throughout the region.

HOLIDAY: SUMI JO SINGS MARIA CALLAS
10 & 11 | 2 | 2017
FRI & SAT 8PM
Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall
HK$480 $380 $280 $180
Tickets are now available at URBTIX
For ages 6 and above

Artists

Click the thumbnails to download photo
Erik Bosgraaf Photo Credit: Bosgraaf	Alessandro Pianu	Benjamin Moermond
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Photo Credit: Philip Chau/HK Phil

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 widespread international rave reviews; 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 Mainland China. The orchestra will undertake an ambitious five-city tour to Seoul, Osaka, Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney in April - 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.