Ring in the Holidays with the HK Phil:
Celebrating Christmas and New Year with Majestic Performances
Hans-Christoph Rademann | Handel/Mozart Messiah (20 & 21 December)
China Life (Overseas) Proudly Sponsors - New Year Celebration: Vienna, City of Dreams (29 & 30 December)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: 
Dennis Wu
Director of Marketing 
Tel: (852) 2721 9035
Email: dennis.wu@hkphil.org 

Emily Hui
Media Relations and Communications Manager
Tel: (852) 2721 1585
Email: emily.hui@hkphil.org

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[10 December 2024, Hong Kong] Celebrate the festive season with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil)! From Christmas to New Year, the HK Phil is delighted to present two wonderful programmes led by renowned conductors Hans-Christoph Rademann and Benjamin Northey in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets are now available at URBTIX.

Hans-Christoph Rademann | Handel/Mozart Messiah (20 & 21 December)

The HK Phil Chorus, the Learners Chorus, and four world-class soloists—Valentina Farcas, Catriona Morison, Nicholas Phan, and Thomas E. Bauer—will perform Handel's Messiah, one of the most famous oratorios ahead of Christmas. Handel composed the score in just 24 days in 1741 after receiving the libretto. This masterpiece was later rearranged by one of the greatest geniuses in music history: Mozart, who loved Messiah so much that created a German-language version of it. Audiences will hear Mozart’s reinterpretation from “Ev’ry Valley” and “The Trumpet Shall Sound” to the iconic “Hallelujah” chorus itself. The concerts will be conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann, Artistic Director of the Internationale Bachakademie, who will be making his HK Phil debut.

“Hans-Christoph Rademann | Handel/Mozart Messiah” will be held on 20 December 2024 (Fri) at 8PM and 21 December 2024 (Sat) at 5PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$420, $340, $260, $180 and $50 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Supported by: Goethe-Institut Hongkong

China Life (Overseas) Proudly Sponsors - New Year Celebration: Vienna, City of Dreams (29 & 30 December)

They call Vienna the “city of dreams” – a place where melody fills the very air. Under the baton of Australian conductor Benjamin Northey, the HK Phil will celebrate the New Year in traditional Viennese style, playing beloved pieces such as the Emperor Waltz, Thunder and Lightning Polka, Die Fledermaus: Czardas, and The Blue Danube by J Strauss II, along with Brahms’ Fifth Hungarian Dance, and highlights from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Così fan Tutte. The concert will also include works by Korngold, featuring ballet music from Der Schneemann, film scores from The Sea Hawk, opera selection from Die Tote Stadt, and Straussiana, a nostalgic medley of the composer’s favourite dance tunes by the Strauss family. Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg will make her HK Phil debut, performing beloved opera and operetta favourites.

“China Life (Overseas) Proudly Sponsors - New Year Celebration: Vienna, City of Dreams” will be held on 29 December (Sun) at 3PM and 30 December 2024 (Mon) at 8PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$520, $420, $320 and $220 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Title Sponsor: China Life (Overseas)

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Artists

Hans-Christoph Rademann | Handel/Mozart Messiah

Hans-Christoph Rademann, conductor [full description]

Conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann is an internationally sought-after interpreter with a wide repertoire, ranging from the rediscovery of early music to premieres of contemporary works. He specialises in composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Heinrich Schütz. He has recorded Schütz’s complete choral works for the Carus Verlag label. In the 2023/24 season he performed all the cantatas from Bach’s first yearly cycle as Kantor of St. Thomas’s Leipzig with the Gaechinger Cantorey; and was released on Hänssler Classic.

Valentina Farcas, soprano [full description]

Valentina Farcas has worked with some of the foremost conductors and directors of our time including Maestros Riccardo Muti, Riccardo Chailly, Kirill Petrenko, Jaap van Zweden, Nikolas Harnoncourt, Kurt Masur, Fabio Luisi, Rene Jacobs, Fabio Biondi, Ivor Bolton, Paavo Järvi, Jeffrey Tate, Bruno Bartoletti, Bertrand de Billy, Thomas Hengelbrock, Alessandro de Marchi, Riccardo Frizza, Christopher Hogwood and directors Robert Carsen, Stefan Heerheim, Damiano Michieletto, Barrie Kosky, Laurent Pelly, Daniele Abbado, Cristina Muti, and Guy Joosten, among others. 

Catriona Morison, mezzo-soprano [full description]

In 2015, Catriona made her debut at the Salzburg Festival as part of the Young Singers Project and performed at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. She appeared at prestigious venues like the Edinburgh International Festival, Oper Köln, Bergen Nasjonale Opera, Staatsoper Hamburg, and the Nationaltheater Weimar. Recent repertoire additions include Der Komponist in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Fricka in Wagner’s Das Rheingold. The 22/23 season ended triumphantly with her portrayal of Nerone (L’incoronazione di Poppea), and she performed Die Walküre with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in 2024. 

Nicholas Phan, tenor [full description]

Described by the Boston Globe as “one of the world’s most remarkable singers,” American tenor Nicholas Phan is increasingly recognised as an artist of distinction. An artist with an incredibly diverse repertoire that spans nearly 500 years of music, he performs regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies. Also an avid recitalist, in 2010 he co-founded the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) to promote art song and vocal chamber music, where he serves as artistic director.

Thomas E. Bauer, bass [full description]

As a concert vocalist, Thomas E. Bauer made recent guest appearances at Beethovenfest Bonn, singing Beethoven’s song cycle An die ferne Geliebte, with the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Musik Podium Festival in Stuttgart in Mendelssohn’s Paulus, with Chorwerk Ruhr, Ensemble Pygmalion, and Anima Eterna. The Palais des Beaux-Arts BOZAR in Brussels featured Bauer as Artist-in-Residence for a series of concerts. He has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Haitink, Concentus Musicus under Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the Filarmonica della Scala under Zubin Mehta, the National Symphony in Washington, DC, and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra.

Hong Kong Philharmonic Chorus [full description]

Established in 1980, the HK Phil Chorus has collaborated with the HK Phil to perform a range of works over the years. In 2013, the Chorus undertook a new recruitment drive, and over 450 singers were attracted to attend the auditions. The first performance by the newly reformed Chorus was Handel’s Messiah. Since then, the Chorus has performed with the HK Phil in major works by composers including Britten, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Haydn and Mahler under renowned conductors Lorin Maazel, Jaap van Zweden and Nicholas McGegan. The Chorus’ Fellowship programme was inaugurated during the 2020/21 Season, setting the stage for aspiring professional singers to join this distinguished ensemble.

The Learners Chorus [full description]

The Learners Chorus was founded in 1979 by former members of the Hong Kong University Students’ Union Choir. In addition to hosting choral concerts and large-scale concerts with The Learners Orchestra, Learners has also given guest performances both within and outside Hong Kong.  Recent appearances include Britten’s War Requiem with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and its Chorus under the baton of the late Maestro Lorin Maazel; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 “Symphony of a Thousand” at the Hong Kong-Vienna Music Festival; Heroes: A Video Game Symphony and National Geographic: Symphony for Our World, both with the Macao Orchestra; and Los Angeles International Choir Festival and Verdi Requiem with Dream Orchestra of Los Angeles. 

China Life (Overseas) Proudly Sponsors - New Year Celebration: Vienna, City of Dreams

Benjamin Northey, conductor [full description]

Australian conductor Benjamin Northey is the Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor – Learning and Engagement of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In 2025, he takes up the position of Conductor in Residence with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Northey studied conducting at Finland's Sibelius Academy and completed his studies at the Stockholm Royal College of Music with Jorma Panula in 2006.

Siobhan Stagg, soprano [full description]

With her "angelic" voice (Kölner Stadt Anzeiger, 2023) and "ethereal stage presence” (Sydney Morning Herald), Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg has become one of the most sought-after lyric artists of her generation. A member of Deutsche Oper Berlin’s ensemble from 2013-19, her roles included Pamina from Die Zauberflöte, Sophie from Der Rosenkavalier, and Waldvogel and Woglinde in The Ring Cycle conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

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HANS-CHRISTOPH RADEMANN | HANDEL/MOZART MESSIAH

20 & 21 | 12 | 2024

FRI 8PM & SAT 5PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

HK$420 $340 $260 $180 $50

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme

CHINA LIFE (OVERSEAS) PROUDLY SPONSORS - NEW YEAR CELEBRATION: VIENNA, CITY OF DREAMS

29 & 30 | 12 | 2024

SUN 3PM

MON 8PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
$520 $420 $320 $220

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme