HK Phil’s Swire Classic Insights:
Free concerts exploring the issue of Global Warming and celebrating British
innovative composer Michael Nyman’s 75th birthday
13 FEB 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
[13 February 2019, Hong Kong] According to data from NASA, 2018 recorded the fourth highest global average surface temperature. It is expected that 2019 will be the second warmest year on record. In the first two programmes of this year’s Swire Classic Insights, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) cordially invites you to share our concerns about Global Warming through music on 1 March (Fri) and 2 March (Sat) in the Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong.
In celebration of the 75th birthday of Michael Nyman, the HK Phil dedicates the last programme of this year’s Swire Classic Insights to a man who is one of Britain's most innovative and celebrated composers. The concert will be held on 24 March (Sun) in the Academic Community Hall, Hong Kong Baptist University.
Registration for tickets is required. Ticket registration for the first two concerts begins on 15 February 2019 (10AM), while for the last concert begins on 6 March 2019 (10AM).
(1) Global Warming I (1 March 2019, Friday, 8pm)
In the first two concerts of this year's Swire Classic Insights series, Professor Matthew Evans, Dean of Science at HKU, will reveal the alarming situation concerning global warming and our planet’s fragile state. Supporting him will be two programmes of climate-influenced music, evoking the sun, the ice shelf, deserts, polar regions and the creatures whose very existence is threatened by climate change.
Concert Details
Date: | 1 March 2019, Friday |
Time: | 8pm |
Venue: | Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, Centennial Campus, |
Programme
NIELSEN | Helios Overture |
SCULTHORPE | Sun Music II |
Pierre JALBERT | Ice and Fire, Movement I: Ice |
HOVHANESS | And God Created Great Whales |
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Speaker |
With support from
(2) Global Warming II (2 March 2019, Saturday, 8pm)
Concert Details
Date: | 2 March 2019, Saturday |
Time: | 8pm |
Venue: | Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, Centennial Campus, |
Programme
RAUTAVAARA | Cantus Arcticus |
Stella SUNG | Oceana with accompanying video |
Mason BATES | Desert Transport |
Artists
Conductor | |
Speaker |
With support from
(3) Michael Nyman 75th Birthday - Beyond The Piano (24 March 2019, Sunday, 3pm)
One of Britain's most innovative and celebrated composers, Michael Nyman has had a long collaboration with filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and is probably best-known for his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano.
Co-presented with the Hong Kong International Film Festival, this programme features a selection of Nyman’s compositions. Apart from the opener In Re Don Giovanni which is a deconstruction of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, all the other compositions are either taken directly from, or derived from, his most famous soundtracks.
On the Fiddle for solo violin and string orchestra comprises three movements, each of which is derived from his scores for the Peter Greenaway films The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), A Zed & Two Noughts (1985) and Prospero’s Books (1991).
The final work, Where the Bee Dances, is also derived from Prospero’s Books. This saxophone concerto features Simon Haram, a member of the Michael Nyman Band.
Concert Details
Date: | 24 March 2019, Sunday |
Time: | 3pm |
Venue: | Academic Community Hall, Hong Kong Baptist University |
Programme
Michael NYMAN | In Re Don Giovanni |
Michael NYMAN | The End of the Affair Suite |
Michael NYMAN | On the Fiddle |
Michael NYMAN | “If” and “Why” from The Diary of Anne Frank |
Michael NYMAN | Gattaca Suite |
Michael NYMAN | Where the Bee Dances (Saxophone concerto) |
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Conductor | |
Saxophone | |
Violin |
Co-presented with | With support from |
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All three concerts are free admission. Seats are limited and are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. For more details, please visit: hkphil.org.
Artists
Global Warming I (1 March 2019, Friday, 8pm) & Global Warming II (2 March 2019, Saturday, 8pm)
Jung-Ho Pak, conductor [full biography]
Described by TheNew York Times as a conductor who "radiates enthusiasm" and Los Angeles Times as "a real grabber", Jung-Ho Pak is known for his unique vision of the role of classical music. Since 2007 he has been Artistic Director and Conductor of the Cape Symphony, and is also Music Director Emeritus of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Guest conducting has taken him to Europe, Russia, South America and Asia.
Professor Matthew Evans, speaker [full biography]
Michael Nyman 75th Birthday - Beyond The Piano (24 March 2019, Sunday, 3pm)
Mikel Toms, conductor [full biography]
British conductor Mikel Toms has worked with many orchestras and ensembles including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, Oslo Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, New Prague Sinfonia, Kazakhstan State Symphony Orchestra, Uralsk Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Film Orchestra and ELISION (Australia’s national contemporary music ensemble). From April 2019, he will take up the position of Resident Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of India.
Simon Haram, saxophone [full biography]
Born in Liverpool in 1969, Simon studied with John Harle at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, graduating with Distinction in 1992. During his studies Simon won a succession of awards, scholarships and competitions including the Principal’s Prize and was the first wind player to be accepted for the prestigious YCAT award. Currently he is Professor of Saxophone at the Royal Academy of Music. As a soloist, Simon has appeared with the London Sinfonietta, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Of St John’s, Soloists of the Royal Opera House, East Of England Orchestra, Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Leung Kin-fung, violin [full biography]
HK Phil’s First Associate Concertmaster, Leung Kin-fung, received the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award” in Hong Kong in 2002 and “Artist of the Year - Music 2014” award from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. He is currently Performing Arts Director of Diocesan Girls' School, Artistic Director and Conductor of PolyU Orchestra, as well as Artistic Director of Hong Kong Pure Strings and Macau Virtuosi. Leung Kin-fung performs on a Santus Seraphin violin made in 1730.
Click the thumbnails to download press photos
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Jung-Ho Pak | Professor Matthew Evans |
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Mikel Toms | Simon Haram | Leung Kin-fung | |
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Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra |
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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.