Download For Immediate Release - Hong Kong Philharmonic

For Immediate Release
4 July 2011
Hong Kong
HKPO 2010/11 Season concluded with the triumphant three-week
“Tchaikovsky Festival” under the baton of Maestro Edo de Waart
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO) concluded the 2010/11 Season triumphantly with the
three-week “Tchaikovsky Festival” (17 June – 2 July, 2011) led by its Artistic Director and Chief
Conductor Maestro Edo de Waart, with 97 % attendance while the overall paid attendance of the
2010/11 Season reached 81% with close to 100,000 music lovers coming to our concert halls.
Themed “A Season of Bravos”, the 2010/11 Season featured a line-up of headline artists which
garnered enthusiastic applause from critics and audience alike. Major highlights of the season
included a number of sell-out performances such as “The Pride of China: Lang Lang”, “Joe Hisaishi
in Concert” and “Sumi Jo Returns”, the newly commissioned Dizi Concerto No.2 by Chinese
composer Guo Wenjing, the Asian première of Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony and local composer
Fung Lam’s award-winning Unlocking.
Outside Hong Kong, the HKPO in the past season, undertook a China tour of three cities in
September 2010 under the leadership of Maestro de Waart. Making its début in Xi’an and revisiting
Shanghai and Beijing, the former of which the Orchestra’s World Expo 2010 Shanghai, the HKPO
gained critical acclaims from both the media and audiences alike.
Perry So, Associate Conductor of the HKPO, led the Orchestra in two brilliant programmes in
October 2010 and May 2011, with the music of Dvořák, Sibelius, Ravel, Berlioz and Hong Kong
composer Fung Lam. Besides these regular main-stage concerts, Perry also conducted the
Orchestra in the highly popular free concert “After Hour Classics” held at the ArtisTree and the large
outdoor performance of Swire Symphony under the Stars which was attended by some 15.000 music
lovers.
2011/12 Season - “Our Great Journey with Edo”
Opening in 2 September 2011, the 2011/12 Season - “Our Great Journey with Edo” will be
Maestro de Waart’s eighth and final season with the HKPO. To celebrate and conclude Maestro de
Waart’s great work and achievements with the Orchestra, a special series “Edo de Waart Festival”
will be introduced. The five programmes are meticulously selected by Maestro de Waart, including
Mahler’s The Song of the Earth, Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.3 and Symphony No.2,
Wagner’s Parsifal – an orchestra quest, Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote and the very joyful farewell
concert on Beethoven’s Symphony No.9.
Edo de Waart Festival: “Beethoven 9 – The Moment of Farewell”, “Rachmaninov Gala – Rach 3” and
“Season Opening Gala – Heaven and Earth” are the three top-ranked concerts of our 2011/12
Advanced Subscription. With the other two remaining programmes trailing closely, the Edo de Waart
Festival will surely be the most anticipated musical event of the 2011/12 Season.
The subscription concerts are the core of the HKPO’s 45-week season, yet the nurturing of young
audience and reaching out to the Hong Kong community remain top priorities of the HKPO’s artistic
vision. Besides main-stage concerts, the HKPO spreads the joy of music to all parts of the city
through our extensive education activities and free concerts such as the widely popular outdoor
concert Swire Symphony under the Stars, After Hour Classics at the ArtisTree, the annual
education project HSBC Insurance Creative Notes student concerts and community concerts.
For enquiry, please call the HKPO at
(852) 2721 2030
Or go on our website:
www.hkpo.com
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Media Contact
Paul Tam, Director of Marketing
Tel: (852) 2721 9035
Cell: (852) 9650 6818
Alice Luk, Corporate Communications Officer
Tel: (852) 2721 1585
Cell: (852) 6280 0156
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Edo de Waart
Artistic Director and Chief Conductor
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO) is one of Asia’s leading orchestras. Enriching Hong
Kong’s cultural life for over a century, the Orchestra has grown into a formidable ensemble of
Chinese and international talents, attracting world-class artists to collaborate on its stage. HKPO
annually touches the lives of over 200,000 music lovers through more than 150 performances
including its extensive education activities for children and adults alike, and free concerts such as the
popular Swire Symphony under the Stars, and regular broadcasts and telecasts. Outside of Hong
Kong, HKPO has made a number of critically acclaimed tours in Asia and Europe. In the 2010/11
season, the Orchestra undertook a China tour of Shanghai, Xi’an and Beijing under the leadership of
Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Maestro Edo de Waart. The first of which was an Expo 2010
programme.
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 the Venue Partner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre