Swire Symphony Under The Stars –– HK Phil’s annual outdoor concert to
be held on12 Nov 2016 at Central Harbourfront

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[11 October 2016, Hong Kong] It’s time for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s (HK Phil) free outdoor extravaganza — Swire Symphony Under The Stars. With the night sky above, Hong Kong’s iconic skyline as the backdrop, and great music played by your HK Phil, this event is sure to be a night to remember.

This year’s concert on 12 November (Saturday) features Australian Maestro Nicholas Carter leading a programme of classical orchestral favourites. Up-and-coming Hong Kong pianist Chiyan Wong will play Liszt’s dazzling Fantasy on Themes from Beethoven’s Ruins of Athens. The ever-popular Harry Wong (aka Harry Goh Goh) returns to this event as M.C. and is sure to keep things lively, and sand artist Hoi Chiu will once again delight audiences with his amazing sand arts in sync with the music. All this will be topped off with fireworks, guaranteeing a wonderful night, and one to remember with family and friends.

Swire Symphony Under The Stars is made possible through the generous support of the Swire Group. Swire has been Principal Patron of the HK Phil since 2006, and from the outset has shared a long-term vision to promote artistic excellence and foster cultural appreciation. Together, Swire and the HK Phil aim to open the world of classical music to the widest possible audience.

Tickets for Swire Symphony Under The Stars are free of charge.

NEW TICKETING PROCEDURE THIS YEAR!
Tickets will be available to the general public on 18 October (Tue) at 10:00AM through www.ticketflap.com. Patrons must register for a Ticketflap account and can sign up for a maximum of four tickets. Upon successful registration, ticket confirmation will be sent to the patron’s email, and tickets will be stored in their Ticketflap account. Patrons can then download their tickets, print them or save them on their smartphone. Patrons can enter the event with their printed ticket or smartphone.

FAST FACTS ABOUTSWIRE SYMPHONY UNDER THE STARS          

Programmes include:

Artists
Nicholas Carter, conductor [full biography]
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Principal Conductor Nicholas Carter is the first Australian to be appointed to one of the six major state orchestras in Australia in nearly 30 years. He is currently Kapellmeister and musical assistant to Donald Runnicles at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He collaborates regularly with many of Australia’s leading orchestras and ensembles. In 2010 Nicholas founded a period performance orchestra in Sydney focusing on the music, instruments and historical performance practices of the early 19th century. A three-year association with the Sydney Symphony, first as Assistant Conductor and later as Associate Conductor, gave him the opportunity to work closely with Vladimir Ashkenazy and a number of the orchestra’s guest conductors. In 2011, at the invitation of Simone Young, Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera, he then served as her Kapellmeister and musical assistant until mid-2014.

Harry Wong, Master of Ceremonies [full biography]
Harry Wong (aka Harry Goh Goh) is well known among children and adults for his humorous personality and amazing magic. Music and magic have been part of his life since he was young, and with these gifts, Harry uses his talents to serve the community and bring joy to the public through all kinds of media. Harry has been a regular performing guest for Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and other performing groups. He is also a prolific M.C. and entertainer in different parts of the world.

Chiyan Wong, piano [full biography]
Hong Kong-born Chiyan Wong has been astonishing audiences with the sincerity and sheer authority of his playing. In April 2016 Chiyan made his debut with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No 2. Chiyan will release his debut recording in 2017 on Linn Records which will feature Franz Liszt operatic transcriptions completed and edited by Chiyan.

Principal Patron: SWIRE
Sponsor: Tom Lee Music
Media Partner: RTHK Television Division, RTHK Radio 4 & RTHK TV31

For programme enquiry, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit our website:
www.hkphil.org
 

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. The Orchestra presents more than 150 concerts over a 44-week season and 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. In addition, Maestro van Zweden will also be the next Music Director of the New York Philharmonic starting with the 2018-19 season.

Yu Long was appointed for an initial three-year term in the 2015/16 season as Principal Guest Conductor.

Under Maestro van Zweden, the HK Phil is undertaking a variety of initiatives including a four-year project to perform and record the complete Ring of the Nibelung (Richard Wagner). The Orchestra is in the second of this four-year journey, performing one opera annually in concert. The performances are being recorded live for the Naxos label and mark the first performances by a Hong Kong or mainland Chinese orchestra of the entire Ring cycle.

Also under van Zweden, the orchestra undertook a highly successful five-country, seven-city tour of Europe in the 2014/15 season, with concerts in London, Vienna, Zurich, Eindhoven, Birmingham, Berlin and Amsterdam. Performances were met with enthusiasm and universally positive reviews. The concert in Vienna’s Musikverein was filmed for broadcast on TV.

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 and Yuja Wang.

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 tens 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.

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.

Thanks to a 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.

The Orchestra celebrated its 40th season as a professional orchestra in 2013/14.

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.