The Orchestra Academy Hong Kong announces selected musicians for Fellowship Programme and Young Pro Platform in 2021/22 Season 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: 
Meggy Cheng
Director of Marketing 
Tel: (852) 2721 9035
Email: meggy.cheng@hkphil.org 

Flora Fung
Media Relations and Communications Manager
Tel: (852) 2721 1585
Email: flora.fung@hkphil.org
 

Download here
 

[10 Jun 2021, Hong Kong] Today, The Orchestra Academy Hong Kong (TOA) announces the musicians who have been selected for TOA’s two schemes – Fellowship Programme and Young Pro Platform. 

TOA is co-directed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) to provide professional training for distinguished HKAPA Music graduates and facilitate their career development in the orchestral field. Those who are admitted to TOA will also contribute their talents to serve the community through volunteering opportunities. TOA is funded by “TrustTomorrow” of The Swire Group Charitable Trust (Swire Trust) with a pledged sponsorship of approximately HK$9 million over a 3-year period. 

Under the Fellowship Programme, candidates have undergone a competitive selection process, which featured two rounds of auditions. Selection panel members comprise the Music Director of the HK Phil, Jaap van Zweden, SBS, the Dean of Music of HKAPA, Professor Sharon Choa, as well as HK Phil musicians and HKAPA School of Music faculty members. The HK Phil Music Director, Jaap van Zweden, welcomes the initiative. “I have been pleased by the standard of the applications and by the high quality of their performances at the auditions. The preparation shown by the candidates was impressive and I look forward to working with the six Fellows alongside the Orchestra in the coming season.”  

The six selected Fellows (*please refer to the list of selected Fellows below) will undergo an intensive orchestral training with the HK Phil in its 2021/22 season, learning about the expectations and protocols of a professional orchestra, while performing a wide range of symphonic repertoire. In the mentorship scheme, each Fellow will pair up with an assigned HK Phil musician to gain insights into the professional life of orchestral players. 

The other scheme, Young Pro Platform offers a versatile season-long programme of full ensemble concerts with Philharmonia APA (PAPA) and a series of chamber concerts. The Platform encourages players to commit to high-calibre performances and to take an active role in curating specially designed concert programmes. 

Young Pro Platform selected 16 players (*please refer to the list of selected players below). In the audition, apart from a classical piece, candidates were asked to perform a work from the non-classical repertoire as well as to present a creative programme for the Platform. Professor Choa reflects on the non-traditional audition requirements, “Candidates chose pieces from styles as varied as jazz, Latin and contemporary music, highlighting in the process their own personality and their virtuosic musical skills. We were also pleasantly impressed by their innovative concert ideas with special designed themes and integration of multidisciplinary or site-specific elements. We look forward to curating some of their ideas in the coming season.” 

Ms Tina Chan, Group Head of Philanthropy for John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Ltd, who leads the Swire Trust, said, “It is encouraging to see that this one-of-a-kind programme not only prepares emerging talented musicians to thrive as professionals in the performing arts industry, but also offers them the opportunity to ‘pay it forward’ through skilled volunteering, allowing them to spend time teaching music to young people and playing music to underprivileged groups. We are proud to be a sponsor of this good cause under TrustTomorrow – a HK$150-million philanthropic initiative that funds inspirational projects in the areas of Arts, Education and Marine Conservation. We look forward to seeing the performance of the musicians.”

*Selected musicians for The Orchestra Academy Hong Kong (2021/22 Season)
  
Fellowship Programme:

About the Fellows, please click here:  

Young Pro Platform: 
About the players, please click here:

About the Swire Group Charitable Trust
Established in 1983, the Swire Group Charitable Trust ("Swire Trust") is a Hong Kong charity registered under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Its aim is to effect positive change in the areas of Education, Marine Conservation and the Arts by supporting registered non-profit organisations primarily in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. Swire Trust is overseen by the Philanthropy Council, which is chaired by a member of senior management. In March 2021, Swire launched a HK$150 million funding TrustTomorrow initiative under Swire Trust to fund around 30 inspirational projects which aim at bringing lasting benefits and positive changes to the community in the areas of Education, Marine Conservation and the Arts, the three focus areas that correlate with Swire Trust’s vision.  

About Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) (hkphil.org) 
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is recognised as Asia’s foremost classical orchestra, attracting more than 200,000 music lovers every year by presenting more than 150 concerts. In 2019, the HK Phil received the prestigious Gramophone Orchestra of the Year Award – the first orchestra in Asia to receive this distinction. Maestro Jaap van Zweden has been the orchestra’s Music Director since the 2012/13 concert season and will continue to hold the position through to the end of the 2023/24 season; he is also Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. Maestro Yu Long is the HK Phil’s Principal Guest Conductor. Lio Kuokman has been appointed as Resident Conductor, effective 1 December 2020 and covering the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons. It is the orchestra’s mission to share its finest music-making in a more accessible way with people everywhere, not just in designated venues. In 2020, the HK Phil has produced a number of online programmes that allow us to reach out to a wider audience through recording, streaming and publishing on our website and social media platforms. New collaborations were made with the Hong Kong Tourism Board, JOYCE, 3 Hong Kong, Now TV and Tsz Shan Monastery to cultivate new audiences.

About The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) (hkapa.edu)
The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), established by The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Ordinance in 1984, is a leading tertiary institution in the performing arts in Asia. It provides professional undergraduate education and practice-based postgraduate studies. The study encompasses Chinese Opera, Dance, Drama, Film and Television, Music, and Theatre and Entertainment Arts. Its educational philosophy reflects the cultural diversity of Hong Kong with emphasis on Chinese and Western traditions, and interdisciplinary learning. 

Since 2008, the Academy has attained the Programme Area Accreditation (PAA) status awarded by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) to selfmonitor and accredit its own Undergraduate and Post-secondary programmes in the five programme areas of Dance, Drama, Film and Television, Music, and Theatre and Entertainment Arts. Since 2016, the PAA status has been extended to cover Master’s Degree programmes and below. The programmes operated by the School of Chinese Opera are accredited by HKCAAVQ for recognition under the Hong Kong Qualifications Framework.

Besides the main campus in Wanchai, Béthanie, the site of the Academy’s Landmark Heritage Campus in Pokfulam, has housed training facilities for the School of Film and Television since 2006. 

In the QS World University Rankings announced in 2021, the Academy is ranked 1st in Asia and 10th in the world in the Performing Arts category.

About Philharmonia APA (PAPA)
Philharmonia APA (PAPA) is an orchestral ensemble made up of a group of young professionals graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. The formation of PAPA is inspired by the distinguished achievements of three decades of music graduates. In HKAPA’s 37th year, PAPA envisions to elaborate the passion of music-making and commitment to excellence shared by the academy-trained musicians. PAPA also continues to serve the Hong Kong community by contributing to its arts scene.

The intimate ensemble size (circa 20 players) of PAPA reinforces a strong and unique collaboration musically and interpersonally. From programming to performing, PAPA highly values each member’s creativity and contribution. By incorporating multidisciplinary elements and exploring state-of-the-art concert designs, PAPA is keen on bringing unconventional concert experience to audiences. 

Since its inception in 2017, PAPA has been invited to perform on local and international stages.
Highlighted performances include GENK and Friends (2019), opening concert of Hong Kong Generation Next Arts (2019), Hong Kong–Vienna Music Festival in Vienna (2017, 2018) and the concerti concerts in Altamira Hong Kong International Guitar Symposium and Competition (2017, 2018).