Jaap van Zweden Conducts Swire Symphony Under The Stars – HK Phil’s Outdoor Orchestral Event of the Year at Central Harbourfront (21 Nov, Saturday)

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[20 October 2015, Hong Kong] The time has come round once more for Hong Kong Phil’s outdoor orchestral event of the year, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s Swire Symphony Under The Starsconcert. This year, we are delighted to announce that our Music Director, Jaap van Zweden, will conduct this exciting event, with Harry Wong as master of ceremonies. It promises to be an evening of magical music ending with fireworks in a relaxed atmosphere alongside family and friends.

This widely-anticipated event is made possible through the generous support of the Swire Group, the Orchestra’s Principal Patron. With the continuing patronage of the Swire Group, the HK Phil is able to maintain its long-term goals of bringing classical music to the widest possible audience and to every part of the Hong Kong community.

Swire Symphony Under The Stars will be held on 21 November 2015 (Saturday) at 7:30pm at Central Harbourfront. Everyone is welcome to be part of the audience at this hugely enjoyable musical Saturday evening, featuring many of the most popular and dazzling pieces of classical orchestral music. To join an audience numbering almost fifteen thousand, you will need to register for FREE tickets as detailed below:

FREE Admission Tickets will be distributed from 10am on 3 November (Tuesday) by the following means:
1. Visit selected Tom Lee Music Stores OR
2. Register on Swire Symphony Under The Stars official website: suts.hkphil.org

Each person may request two concert tickets. Tickets and quotas are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The tickets, which are free and by registration only, are guaranteed to be the hottest in town. Based on past experience, all tickets are snapped up within a few hours of being made available to the public, so act fast to get your free tickets.

Artists
Jaap van Zweden, conductor [full biography]
Amsterdam-born Jaap van Zweden is one of today’s most sought-after conductors. Named Musical America’s Conductor of the Year for 2012, he has been Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 2012/13 season. The maestro has recently conducted the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony to high acclaim.

At the age of nineteen, Jaap was appointed as the youngest Concertmaster ever of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Maestro van Zweden is also currently Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Honorary Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Honorary Conductor of the Radio Chamber Philharmonic.

Harry Wong, master of ceremonies [full biography]
Harry Wong (aka Harry Goh Goh) is well known among children and adults for his humourous personality and amazing magic. Music and magic has been part of his life since young, and with these gifts, Harry determines to use his talents to serve the community and brings joy to the public through all kinds of media. Harry has been a performing guest for Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and other performing groups. He is also a prolific M.C. and entertainer which bring him to different parts of the world.

Swire Symphony Under The Stars
21 | 11 | 2015
SAT 7:30PM
Venue opens at 5:30PM
Central Harbourfront
FREE Admission with Tickets

Free Admission Tickets will be distributed from 10am, 3 November 2015 at below Tom Lee Music Stores OR
Register Online at suts.hkphil.org

SUTS Tickets will be distributed at the following Tom Lee Music Stores:
2/F & 3/F, L Square, 459-461 Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
City Centre Building, 144-149 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
1-9 Cameron Lane, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon
Shop G02, G/F, Olympian City 3, No.1, Hoi Wang Road, Kowloon
Unit 2-20, Level 12, MegaBox, 38 Wang Chiu Road, Kowloon Bay, Kowloon
Shop 303, L3, HomeSquare, Shatin, N.T.
Shop 49-50, Level 2, Sunshine Bazaar, Ma On Shan, N.T.
Shop S35, Luk Yeung Galleria, Tsuen Wan, N.T.
Shop No. 3, 4 & 5, Level 2, South Wing of Trend Plaza, Tuen Mun, N.T.

Principal Patron: SWIRE
Sponsor: Tom Lee Music
Media Partner: RTHK Television Division & RTHK Radio 4
 

Click the thumbnail to download photos
Jaap van Zweden and the HK Phil Photo Credit: Keith Hiro/HK Phil	Harry Wong
Swire Symphony Under The Stars 2014 Photo Credit: Cheung Chi Wai/HK Phil	Swire Symphony Under The Stars 2014 Photo Credit: Keith Hiro/HK Phil

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Music Director: Jaap van Zweden

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) has recently returned from an extremely successful five-country, seven-city tour of Europe, with concerts in London, Vienna, Zurich, Eindhoven, Birmingham, Berlin and Amsterdam. Most concerts were sold out, there were standing ovations, and the reviews were universally positive. The concert in Vienna’s Musikverein was filmed for broadcast on TV. With a history stretching back to 1895, when it was formed as the Sino-British Orchestra, the HK Phil was re-named in 1957 and became fully professional in 1974.

Thanks to 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.

Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ning Feng, Matthias Goerne, Lang Lang, Yu Long, Yundi Li, the late Lorin Maazel, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yuja Wang and Edo de Waart, the HK Phil’s previous Music Director.

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 ten 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.

This season is Jaap van Zweden’s fourth as Music Director of the HK Phil. With him, the orchestra is undertaking major expansion and new projects, including the first-ever performances by a Hong Kong or mainland Chinese orchestra of Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung. The four operas are being performed, one a year, in concert and recorded live for the Naxos label.

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.

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

 

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