From Film Music and Operatic Scenes to Classical Symphonies:
The HK Phil Presents an Exciting January 2025 Line-up
Swire Denim Series: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Live in Concert (3 & 4 January)
Bayreuth: Scenes from the Ring (17 & 18 January)
Spanish Fiesta (24 & 25 January)
Swire Denim Series: Happy Birthday Mozart! (27 January)

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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[20 December 2024, Hong Kong] The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) will present an exhilarating series of concerts in January 2025. Join us at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall for a series of unforgettable musical journeys, from beloved film-in-concert experiences to iconic operatic scenes and celebrated classical works. Tickets are now available at URBTIX.

Swire Denim Series: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Live in Concert (3 & 4 January)

For the first time in Hong Kong, audiences can experience composer Tan Dun’s entire Oscar and Grammy Award-winning scores for Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, performed live to picture. As the martial arts epic unfolds on the big screen above the stage, the HK Phil will bring the music to life under the baton of Australian conductor Benjamin Northey.

Set against the landscapes of ancient China, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon tells the story of the legendary master warrior Li Mubai (Chow Yun-fat) and his secret love Yu Shulien (Michelle Yeoh), with whom he has entrusted the safekeeping of mythic sword known as the Green Destiny. Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi), the ambitious daughter of a rich and powerful governor and herself a skilled martial arts master, steals the Green Destiny and sets in motion events that forever change the fate of all who have sworn to protect the sword and the traditions of the legendary Wudang sect. This film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

“Swire Denim Series: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Live in Concert” will be held on 3 January (Fri) at 8PM and 4 January 2025 (Sat) at 3PM & 8PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$520, $420, $320, $220 and $50 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Bayreuth: Scenes from the Ring (17 & 18 January)

Written over the span of 30 years, Richard Wagner’s monumental operatic masterpiece Der Ring of the Nibelung (Ring Cycle) is made up of four instalments: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung.  For the first time since performing the complete cycle from 2015-18, the HK Phil returns to Wagner’s Ring with selected scenes from Siegfried and Götterdämmerung.

Leading the HK Phil is Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen, praised by Das Opernglas as “one of the most inspired conductors who ever undertook the Ring in Bayreuth”. In 2023, he conducted the production of the Ring Cycle at the Bayreuth Festival. Joining the HK Phil in the performances of this opera saga are two distinguished soloists: Wagnerian soprano Ricarda Merbeth, known for her commanding portrayal of Brünnhilde, and Heldentenor Stefan Vinke, renowned for his powerful interpretation of Siegfried.

“Bayreuth: Scenes from the Ring” will be held on 17 January (Fri) at 8PM and 18 January (Sat) at 5PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$520, $420, $320, $220 and $50 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Spanish Fiesta (24 & 25 January)

Led by Josep Pons, one of the foremost Spanish conductors of his generation and currently Music Director of Gran Teatre del Liceu, the programme features highlights from Spanish composer Manuel de Falla’s masterpieces, La vida breve and El amor brujo. Brimming with the vibrant colours and strident rhythms of Spain, these works ignited the imagination of French composers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Among them was Maurice Ravel whose Basque heritage is omnipresent in his oeuvre. To complement Falla’s inspiring works, the programme includes Ravel’s Spanish-influenced orchestral pieces, Alborada del gracioso and Rapsodie espagnole. In addition, charismatic flamenco singer María Toledo will sing Falla’s poignant melodies in El amor brujo.

“Spanish Fiesta” will be held on 24 & 25 January (Fri & Sat) at 8PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$520, $420, $320, $220 and $50 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Swire Denim Series: Happy Birthday Mozart! (27 January)

Hong Kong-born conductor Teresa Cheung, Resident Conductor of the Endless Mountain Music Festival in New York and Pennsylvania, and recipient of the JoAnn Falletta Conducting Award for the most promising female conductors, makes her HK Phil debut with this all-Mozart programme, celebrating the composer’s birth on 27 January 1756.

The concert opens with the overture to The Marriage of Figaro, followed by the Concerto for Flute and Harp, featuring HK Phil Principal Flute Megan Sterling and Tjasha Gafner, first prize harp winner in the 2023 ARD International Music Competition in Munich. The evening concludes with Mozart’s 41^st Symphony, whose radiant and solemn characteristic earned it the nickname Jupiter, though the composer himself never gave it this title.

“Swire Denim Series: Happy Birthday Mozart!” will be held on 27 January (Mon) at 5PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$$420, $340, $260 and $180 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

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Artists

Swire Denim Series: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Live in Concert

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.

Bayreuth: Scenes from the Ring

Pietari Inkinen, conductor [full description]

Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen is Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie since 2017, and Music Director of the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul since 2022. Praised for his “thinking on a grand scale”, Inkinen has conducted many of the world’s most notable orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and many more. The music of Richard Wagner occupies a central position in Inkinen's work. In 2023, he conducted the production of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival (directed by Valentin Schwarz).

Ricarda Merbeth, soprano [full description]

German soprano Ricarda Merbeth is in demand worldwide as an interpreter of Wagner and Strauss. After studying at the "Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Academy of Music in Leipzig, she began her career in Magdeburg and Weimar. In 1999, she made her debut as Marzelline in Fidelio at the Vienna State Opera and was a member of the ensemble until 2005. A particular highlight was her Daphne in a new production at the Vienna State Opera in 2004, Merbeth achieved her international breakthrough with this title role by Richard Strauss.  Merbeth has made important role debuts, including Isolde at the Hamburg State Opera in 2016 and Brünnhilde in Siegfried at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2017/2018.

Stefan Vinke, tenor [full description]

German Heldentenor Stefan Vinke graduated as a church musician at the Cologne College of Music before beginning his professional singing career in Karlsruhe and Krefeld / Mönchengladbach. In 1999 he was awarded the position of “Young Heroic Tenor” at the Nationaltheater Mannheim where in 2000 he was voted “Male Newcomer of the Year” by Opernwelt magazine. Globally renowned as an interpreter of Wagner’s great tenor roles, he has sung many title roles.

Spanish Fiesta

Josep Pons, conductor [full description]

Regarded as the leading Spanish conductor of his generation, Josep Pons has built strong relationships with Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestre de Paris, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and BBC Symphony Orchestra — the latter including several appearances at the BBC Proms. The 2024/25 season sees Pons return to Orquesta Nacional de España, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse with pianist Javier Perianes, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, and debut with China National Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic. At the end of the 2020/21 season, Pons renewed his contract as Music Director of Gran Teatre del Liceu until 2025/26.

María Toledo, flamenco singer [full description]

María Toledo is an icon of contemporary Flamenco. She is the first woman in Flamenco history to sing while accompanying herself on the piano. Starting from Flamenco’s essence and purity, she unleashes her innovative approach, which she displays with tangos and bulerías rhythms. Critics have always highlighted her artistic qualities both regarding her voice and her piano performance skills. She has a degree in Law and graduated in the Conservatory of Music.

Swire Denim Series: Happy Birthday Mozart!

Teresa Cheung, conductor [full description]

Teresa Cheung is in frequent demand for symphonic, choral, operatic and balletic productions throughout the United States, Canada and Hong Kong. Following an acclaimed 13-season tenure as Music Director of Pennsylvania’s Altoona Symphony Orchestra, she was appointed Resident Conductor of the Endless Mountain Music Festival.

Megan Sterling, flute [full description]

Principal Flute of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 2002, Australian-born Megan Sterling has enjoyed working with some of the world’s top conductors and soloists. She has appeared several times as a soloist with the orchestra, as well as in recitals, radio broadcasts, Canto-pop recordings and chamber music concerts in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Australia, Europe and the US. She has appeared live on national television and radio on three continents and performed at the Parliament House for the Australian Prime Minister.

Tjasha Gafner, harp [full description]

Tjasha Gafner, harpist born in 1999 in Switzerland, graduated from the Juilliard School in New York under the guidance of Nancy Allen. She earned a Master Soloist degree as well under Letizia Belmondo at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Lausanne. In September 2023, Tjasha won the 1^st prize and the audience prize at the prestigious ARD Competition in Munich.

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SWIRE DENIM SERIES:

CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON LIVE IN CONCERT

3 & 4 | 1 | 2025

FRI 8PM & SAT 3PM & 8PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

HK$520 $420 $320 $220 $50

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artist

Programme

Complete film screening (Putonghua with Chinese and English subtitles) with live orchestra performance.

BAYREUTH: SCENES FROM THE RING

17 & 18 | 1 | 2025

FRI 8PM & SAT 5PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$520 $420 $320 $220 $50

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme

SPANISH FIESTA

24 & 25 | 1 | 2025

FRI & SAT 8PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$520 $420 $320 $220 $50

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme

SWIRE DENIM SERIES: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOZART!

27 | 1 | 2025

MON 5PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$$420 $340 $260 $180

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme