For immediate release
11 Apr 2024

 

Hong Kong Sinfonietta is delighted to announce its new 2024/2025 season with the theme “Closer Than You Think”. Featuring a star-studded line-up of international artists and local talents in a myriad of fantastic programmes, the new season is the orchestra’s tribute to the beauty and enrichment of music which is always within reach and closer to our daily lives than we might imagine. As expressed by Music Director Christoph Poppen, “No other art gets closer to our hearts than music. We can close our eyes, but we cannot close our ears… music is indivisible and always finds the way to our hearts.”

 

Online season brochure: www.HKSL.org/2425brochure
Details of concerts in the new season: www.HKSL.org/concert
Download photos: https://shorturl.at/jQR59

 

Star-studded line-up of artists
Boasting over 40 sets of programmes, Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s new season will open with the return of Japanese violin superstar Sayaka Shoji (13/4), followed by six programmes highlighting this year’s French May Arts Festival, starring three top young artists in the French music scene today: oboist Gabriel Pidoux (24/4 & 27/4), cellist Aurélien Pascal (9/5 & 11/5) and pianist David Kadouch (22/5 & 25/5). Renowned soprano Juliane Banse will bring to the city two high-profile performances including a concert of Mahler and Richard Strauss (2/11) under the baton of Christoph Poppen, as well as a more intimate evening of songs and chamber music (30/10) with pianist Colleen Lee and selected musicians of Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Having brought the house down in his début last year, pianist Pavel Kolesnikov will be returning to play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 4 under Maestro Poppen at the 53^rd Hong Kong Arts Festival (22/2/2025), as well as present a fascinating recital programme of Mozart and Ravel (19/2/2025). Acclaimed Korean pianist Sunwook Kim will take the stage in Brahms’ Piano Concerto No 2 (28/9), in an all-German programme conducted by Maestro Poppen which also features Schumann’s First Symphony and the Asian première of Stockhausen’s Fünf Sternzeichen. Winner of the 2^nd Hong Kong International Conducting Competition last year and currently Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Venezuelan conductor Rodolfo Barráez will be returning to join hands with 2021 Geneva International Music Competition winner Michiaki Ueno to present Lalo’s Cello Concerto (30/11).

 

One-of-a-kind musical experiences
Hong Kong Sinfonietta is always exploring fresh and engaging ways of presenting classical music to the community, and this season is no exception. The orchestra has invited two-time world champion harmonica player CY Leo to perform Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue on the harmonica under the baton of Music Director Emeritus Yip Wing-sie (10/8); local Sheng master Loo Sze-wang will be pairing up with Australian didgeridoo superstar William Barton to present the world première of Dylan Crismani’s concerto for sheng and didgeridoo, Coming Together, under the direction of conductor Luke Dollman, promising one of the most special and striking cross-cultural exchanges of late (14/9).

 

Keeping music alive and contemporary
Having commissioned over 90 new works from local and overseas composers in the past, Hong Kong Sinfonietta will feature local composers Alice Yeung’s and Hui Tak-cheung’s Wings’ Matra and Remains for Those Remain at the opening (13/4) and closing (22/2/2025) of this season respectively. Portuguese rising star clarinettist Horácio Ferreira will take centre stage in American-British composer Geoffrey Gordon’s clarinet concerto Fumée, co-commissioned by Hong Kong Sinfonietta, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (29/6). The season will present eight Asian premières by seven composers, including monumental British composer Alexander Goehr’s The Master Said which takes inspiration from the teachings and texts of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius (1/6); local artist Leon Ko (HKS Artist Associate 2018-2019) will be taking on the role of Narrator in the thought-provoking work.

 

The Great Violin Concertos series
Several of the most well-loved and iconic concertos in the violin repertoire will be making an appearance in this season. Apart from Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No 1 (played by Sayaka Shoji on 13/4), the Sibelius Violin Concerto and Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No 2 will also be featured (played by Liya Petrova on 1/6 and Dan Zhu on 16/11 respectively). Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s very own Concertmaster James Cuddeford will be stepping into the spotlight in Berg’s Violin Concerto “To the Memory of an Angel”, under the baton of Music Director Christoph Poppen (6/7); James will also join hands with renowned violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky and string musicians from the orchestra to present a programme paying homage to the legendary violinist and educator Yehudi Menuhin (18/1/2025).

 

Thoughtfully designed introductions to the world of classical music
Hong Kong Sinfonietta has continuously strived to bring classical music closer to audiences from all backgrounds and walks of life. As part of the International Arts Carnival 2024, the orchestra will present two programmes including the return of the ever-popular Short-cut to Classical Music concert series under the baton of Music Director Emeritus Yip Wing-sie, this time introducing the many instruments of an orchestra (20-21/7), as well as “The Other Side of Beethoven” (3-4/8), presented by conductor, music educator and professional counsellor Jason Lai, which delves into the intriguing link between Beethoven’s troubled life and his brilliant creations, and features pianist Colleen Lee performing excerpts from the composer’s several piano concertos.

The orchestra’s long-standing crossover collaboration with the local cartoon character McDull (HKS Artist 2019-2020) is resuming this October (11-14/10), this time with a wildly imaginative and entertaining programme surrounding the piggy’s delicious food-related fantasies over beloved works such as Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 26. With Music Director Emeritus Yip Wing-sie at the helm, the participation of local star pianists Colleen Lee and Mary Wu, as well as a very special appearance by composer Ng Cheuk-yin, the concert will morph into a lively “Café Carnival à la Hong Kong”!

The ever-popular family concert series Good Music for Kids (8-10/6) and Good Music for Babies (7-9/2/2025) will continue to delight audiences this season, as conductors Teresa Cheung and Vivian Ip host their carefully curated programmes which introduce the magic and beauty of classical music to children and their parents. Veteran family concert presenter Alasdair Malloy is once again returning to bring everyone on a fabulous adventure through time and space at the much-anticipated “Alasdair’s Interstellar Odyssey” (10-12/1/2025).

 

Bringing Good Music closer to you
The new season marks an exciting collaboration with The Fringe Club in Central, as the orchestra brings to the charming Fringe Dairy five recitals given by oboist Gabriel Pidoux, cellist Aurélien Pascal, Concertmaster/violinist James Cuddeford, harmonica player CY Leo and pianist Daniel Chu as part of the Good Music @ The Fringe series. The free lunchtime chamber concert series Panasonic Proudly Sponsors: Good Music This Lunch will continue to take place at Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall regularly, providing a relaxing and invigorating breathing space for office workers and the general public in the middle of a busy day.

 

Discovering the next star pianist
Following the success of the first edition for local violinists in 2022, Hong Kong Sinfonietta will be hosting “Auditions On Stage – Piano” in March 2025, where young pianists from Hong Kong will have the opportunity to audition and perform as soloist with the orchestra. More details on this endeavour to provide a springboard for promising local talents will be released in due course.

 

ditto ditto – the newly appointed HKS Artist Associate
Hong Kong Sinfonietta has been running the “HKS Artist Associate” scheme since 2006, inviting outstanding local artists from a wide range of disciplines to collaborate with the orchestra and explore fresh ways of portraying classical music to the community. This season, the orchestra has appointed the local boutique letterpress studio ditto ditto as Artist Associate. Founded by sisters Donna and Nicole (P.S. Chan) in 2012, the studio combines hand-drawn illustrations with the art of letterpress, creating unique paper-based products well-loved for their texture and delicate design. In celebration of the new season, ditto ditto has designed and produced the cover of the season brochure, physical copies of which are available at performance venues such as Hong Kong City Hall and Hong Kong Cultural Centre, as well as URBTIX box offices.

---

Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Music Director Emeritus: Yip Wing-sie
Music Director: Christoph Poppen
Associate Conductor: Vivian Ip

One of Hong Kong’s flagship orchestras, Hong Kong Sinfonietta has achieved significant recognition locally and internationally for its passionate performances and innovative programming, having been collaborating with illustrious international artists and groups since 1999. Venue Partner of Hong Kong City Hall since 2009, the orchestra performs year-round with around 100 performances a season, and is a regular guest at international arts festivals, having toured to 48 cities worldwide. As an avid believer of keeping music alive and contemporary, Hong Kong Sinfonietta has commissioned and performed over 90 new works on top of presenting standard orchestral repertoire. In search for new possibilities and fresh artistic experiences, it regularly collaborates with artists from different disciplines, and has run its own Artist Associate scheme since 2006. In 2020, it became the first local orchestra to appear in cinemas with its groundbreaking Back On Stage concert film series; the Tiny Galaxy Concerts chamber concert series released online and in cinemas further integrated classical music into the lives of a wide range of audiences. To nurture and create opportunities for the next generation of artists, the orchestra successfully held two editions of the Hong Kong International Conducting Competition in 2018 and 2023, and is bringing back the “Auditions On Stage” series for the piano in 2025, following the acclaimed first edition for the violin in 2022.

Download Press Release