HK Phil announces the commission from The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Composers Scheme 2018/19
15 MAR 2019
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
[15 March 2019, Hong Kong] Following the public working session and showcase of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Composers Scheme 2018/19 on 23 February 2019, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is delighted to announce that Tam Lok-hei will be receiving this year’s commission for a new work to be performed by the Orchestra in a main-stage concert in the coming 2019/20 season.
Tam Lok-hei (b.1990) is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in composition at Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. In his submitted work Zone, played by the HK Phil under the baton of Jung-Ho Pak at the public working session and showcase last month, he demonstrated promising composition potential. “‘Zone’ in Chinese is a character used in describing dimensions, especially in space and time, which humans are familiar with in reality. This is very similar to the nature of music, a form of art that relies strongly on the organisation of space and time.” said Tam.
The HK Phil is committed to nurturing local composing talent and promotes the works of Hong Kong and Chinese composers through commissions and performances overseas. Sponsored by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation and organised by the HK Phil, the Composers Scheme provides a platform for local emerging composers to broaden their experience of orchestral writing. Mentorship and feedback are offered by various principals and players from the HK Phil, the conductor and also the composer commentator; this year these included Jung-Ho Pak and British composer Michael Zev Gordon.
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation has been supporting various programmes of the HK Phil since 2006. The Orchestra is grateful to them for once again joining hands to foster local arts talent and culture, and to enhance Hong Kong as one of the greatest arts capitals in the world.
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Tam Lok-hei |
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 at least 2022. Maestro van Zweden is the 26th Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from the 2018/19 season.
Yu Long has been Principal Guest Conductor since 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 2017, 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 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 an epic four-year journey through Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” 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 was released in November 2018.
Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Joshua Bell, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Matthias Goerne, Stephen Hough, Evgeny Kissin, 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 in 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, the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Hong Kong Ballet.
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.