Jaap van Zweden, Acclaimed Violinist Tianwa Yang and the HK Phil Embark on Tour to Nanjing and Shanghai 
Celebrating the HK Phil’s 50th Professional Season
1 & 2 September 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Dennis Wu
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Email: dennis.wu@hkphil.org 

Emily Hui
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Email: emily.hui@hkphil.org

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[4 August 2023, Hong Kong] The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is thrilled to kick off its 50th professional season with an exciting tour in Nanjing and Shanghai on 1 and 2 September 2023. Led by Music Director Jaap van Zweden, the HK Phil will present three Mendelssohn’s programmes in these two concerts, featuring virtuoso violinist Tianwa Yang. These performances are made possible with the support of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Tianwa Yang has been hailed as “an unquestioned master of the violin” (American Record Guide), and as an artist who “rises above her competition” (Fanfare). In the upcoming concerts in Nanjing and Shanghai, she will perform Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, a piece beloved by both violinists and music enthusiasts worldwide.

The evening begins with Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides Overture, which portrays the violent seas off the west coast of Scotland. It concludes with Mendelssohn’s Symphony no. 4, filling the concert halls with blazing colours and sunbeams of Italy, the travel destination that inspired this piece.

The HK Phil has forged a strong relationship with Mainland China since its debut performance in 1986, including numerous concerts conducted by Jaap van Zweden since the 2013/14 Season. These performances have received high praise from critics and audiences alike. The HK Phil is honoured to return and reunite with the Mainland audience for the first time in almost four years after the pandemic, under the baton of Jaap van Zweden.

As the HK Phil celebrates its 50th anniversary during the 2023/24 Season, the orchestra aims not only to continue presenting world-class concerts to the Hong Kong audience, but also to bring the finest music-making outside of Hong Kong. The orchestra will embark on an exhilarating journey to more than 18 cities in Mainland China, Asia and Europe, sharing the beauty of music and forging connections with audiences from every corner of the world. The concerts at the Jiangsu Centre for the Performing Arts Concert Hall and the Shanghai Oriental Art Center Concert Hall, held on 1 and 2 September 2023 respectively, mark the commencement of this highly anticipated tour that celebrates the orchestra’s golden jubilee.

Artists
Jaap van Zweden, conductor [full description]
Over the past decade, conductor Jaap van Zweden has become an international presence on three continents. Currently Music Director of the HK Phil, he is also Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. He has appeared as guest conductor with leading orchestras such as, in Europe, the Orchestra de Paris, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, and, in the US, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Tianwa Yang, violin [full description]
Winner of the prestigious OPUS KLASSIK Instrumentalist of the Year (Violin) in 2022 for her Naxos recording of Prokofiev’s two Violin Concertos, and in 2015 for her Naxos recording Ysaÿe’s six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Tianwa Yang is referred to as “an unquestioned master of the violin” (American Record Guide) and as an artistwho “rises above her competition” (Fanfare). She performs with such major orchestras as the Detroit, Seattle, Baltimore, Nashville, Kansas City, Virginia, Vancouver, WDR-Cologne, HR Radio Frankfurt and New Zealand Symphonies; the London, Helsinki, Hong Kong, BBC, Warsaw and Royal Liverpool Philharmonics; Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Orchestre National d'Île de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and Macau Orchestra.

JAAP VAN ZWEDEN & TIANWA YANG
HONG KONG PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
1 | 9 | 2023
FRI 7:30PM
Jiangsu Centre for the Performing Arts Concert Hall
RMB ¥780 ¥580 ¥384 ¥224 ¥144 ¥64

JAAP VAN ZWEDEN & HONG KONG PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
2 | 9 | 2023
SAT 7:30PM

Shanghai Oriental Art Center Concert Hall
RMB ¥880 ¥680 ¥480 ¥280 ¥180

Artists

Programme