Time for Three – a ‘classically trained garage band’ improvises on
Brubeck in Swire Denim Series 9PM Concerts (8 & 9 April)

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[8 March 2016, Hong Kong]  The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is excited to introduce Time for Three, a high-energy string trio that defies traditional genre classification, and that plays with a fresh artistic perspective and no musical boundaries. The band will be featured in the first of three Swire Denim Series concerts this season that feature shorter programmes (just over one hour) with light classics, a later (9PM) start time, and an opportunity to mix and mingle with the musicians following the concert.

“When the three musicians get together, the resulting mash-up is often equal parts spontaneity and virtuosic precision.”
--- The Wall Street Journal

Time for Three will be joining the HK Phil on stage for American composer Chris Brubeck’s jazzy Triple Concerto. Conductor Keith Lockhart will also lead the orchestra in Grofé’s Mississippi Suite, which evokes the Mississippi River; and Copland’s Appalachian Spring which was first written for a ballet with “an American theme” and later rearranged as an orchestral suite.

Audiences can join the exclusive post-concert party at nearby Deli and Wine, and mix and mingle with the Time for Three trio and other musicians. Tickets can be purchased at the concert for $80 per person and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Music enthusiasts can also enjoy another opportunity for a close encounter with Time for Three at “MUSIC IMPROV – with Time for Three” on 9 April (Sat), 4:30 – 6:30 pm at Hong Kong Cultural Centre Backstage. More information and registration can be found at http://bit.ly/1KVRexr

Swire Denim Series: Time For Three will be held on 8 & 9 April(Fri & Sat), 9PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Ticket prices: HK$380, $280, $220, $180 are now available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit www.hkphil.org.

Free Pre-concert talks are available on both concert nights:

Partner: Chevignon

Artists
Keith Lockhart, conductor [full biography]
Keith Lockhart was appointed Principal Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in August 2010. In the US he celebrated his 20th anniversary season as Conductor of the Boston Pops in 2015 and continues to serve as Artistic Director of the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. Lockhart has conducted nearly every major orchestra in North America as well as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, NHK Symphony, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic.

Time for Three [full biography]
The ground-breaking, category-shattering trio Time for Three transcends traditional classification, with elements of classical, country and western, gypsy and jazz forming a blend all its own. The group has performed hundreds of engagements as diverse as its music, including their recent Carnegie Hall debut, appearances with the Boston Pops and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a sell-out 2014 BBC Proms concert, and an appearance on ABC’s hit show “Dancing with the Stars”.

David Jones, drum kit [full biography]
David Jones is often described as one of the most innovative and musical drummers in the world. He is a frequent guest artist and soloist with the Symphony Orchestras of Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Darwin, Tasmania, Auckland and Christchurch, and the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan. David has won numerous prizes and awards including the Melbourne Prize for Music in 2010.

Swire Denim Series: Time For Three
8 & 9 | 4 | 2016
FRI & SAT 9PM
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$380 $280 $220 $180Tickets are now available at URB

Artists

*Violinist Zack du Pue will be replaced by a new violinist, Nikki Chooi.

Click the thumbnail to download photos
Keith Lockhart Photo Credit: Peter Urban/ Boston Symphony Orchestra	Time For Three Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez
David Jones Photo Credit: Mandy Hall	The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Photo Credit: Jason Ma/HK Phil

Programme

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 over 150 concerts within a 44-week season and attracts more than 200,000 music lovers annually.

Jaap van Zweden, one of today’s most sought-after conductors, is the Orchestra’s Music Director, a position he has held since the 2012/13 concert season. Maestro van Zweden was recently announced as the next Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. This appointment will not affect his tenure with the HK Phil; his commitment to the HK Phil extends at least to the summer of 2019.

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 year two of this four-year journey, performing one opera each year 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’s history stretches back to 1895, when it was formed as the Sino-British Orchestra. It was re-named in 1957 and became fully professional in 1974.

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.

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