Long March Symphony and Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto
- A National Day Celebration with Signature Chinese Symphonic Works (28 & 29 Sep)
18 SEP 2018
Hong Kong
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Meggy Cheng
Director of Marketing
Tel: (852) 2721 9035
Email: meggy.cheng@hkphil.org
Flora Fung
Media Relations and Communications Manager
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Email: flora.fung@hkphil.org
[18 September 2018, Hong Kong] Under the baton of Huang Yi, one of the brightest young conductors in China, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) will celebrate the National Day on 28 & 29 September 2018 with two great Chinese symphonic works - the romantic Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao featuring violinist Wang Zhijong,andthe heroic Long March Symphony by Ding Shande, the former mentor of Chen and He - in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.
“The Long March Symphony is a piece representing the epoch of China.”
- Yu Long
The Long March Symphony by the legendary Chinese composer Ding Shande is one of his best known orchestral compositions. Taking the gallant story of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army marching over a distance of 25,000 miles, the Symphony is a deeply moving powerful piece. Under the baton of Huang Yi, the HK Phil ends the concert by revisiting this historic event.
The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto is Chen Gang and He Zhanhao’s recreation of the romantic love story between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The Butterfly Lovers was hailed at its premiere as “a breakthrough in China’s symphonic music”. The piece incorporates Chinese elements and melodic phrases using western instrumentation. After 60 years since its premiere, “The Tchaikovsky Concerto of the East” will showcase the elegance of Chinese symphonic music through the sensitive representation of the sorrows of Zhu Yingtai.
The concert begins with local composer Austin Yip’s Metamorphosis, a HK Phil commissioned work winning the 2017 CASH Golden Sail Music Awards. Music Director Jaap van Zweden commented “the orchestration is wonderful” at its debut. This work takes you to Waterloo Road, where the composer grew up - a microcosm of Hong Kong.
28 Sep performance is sponsored by: Sunwah Kingsway
29 Sep performance is sponsored by: Wing Lung Bank
Holidays: A National Day Concert: Butterfly Lovers & Long March will be held on 28 & 29 Sept (Fri & Sat), 8PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced: HK$ $380 $280 $180 $120 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.
Artists
Huang Yi, conductor [full biography]
Born in Beijing, 31-year-old Huang Yi has established himself as one of the brightest young conductors in China. In 2015 he was appointed Assistant Conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra and in 2016 took up the position of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Kunming Nie'er Symphony Orchestra. He is a regular guest conductor with all the major Chinese orchestras, including Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Wang Zhijong, violin [full biography]
Wang Zhijong made her solo debut at the age of 14 with the Orchestre National de Lille under Yehudi Menuhin. Since then she has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Orchestre National de Radio France, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Konzerthausorcheser Berlin and Warsaw Philharmonic. She plays a Stradivarius 1716 kindly loaned by China Foundation.
HOLIDAYS: A NATIONAL DAY CONCERT:
BUTTERFLY LOVERS & LONG MARCH
28 & 29 | 9 | 2018
FRI & SAT 8PM
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$380 $280 $180 $120
Tickets are now available at URBTIX
For ages 6 and above
Artists
conductor | |
violin |
Click the thumbnails to download press photos
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Huang Yi | Wang Zhijong | |
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The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra |
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Programme
Austin YIP | Metamorphosis |
CHEN Gang & HE Zhanhao | Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto |
DING Shande | Long March Symphony |
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 appointed 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 will be released towards the end of 2018.
Conductors and soloists who have recently performed with the orchestra include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Joshua Bell, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Matthias Goerne, Stephen Hough, 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 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 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.