Jaap Returns to HK Phil Stage with
Acclaimed Soloists Niu Niu and Esther Yoo in February 2025
Jaap & Niu Niu (7 & 8 February)
Swire Maestro Series: Jaap | Rachmaninov 2 (14 & 15 February)

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[22 January 2025, Hong Kong] Maestro Jaap van Zweden will reunite with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) for two weekends of performances in February 2025. Featuring esteemed artists, pianist Niu Niu and violinist Esther Yoo, these programmes will take place in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets are now available at URBTIX.

Jaap & Niu Niu (7 & 8 February)

Following the sensational performance of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in 2022, Jaap van Zweden and pianist Niu Niu join forces again to present an all-Tchaikovsky programme. This time, Niu Niu returns to complete the piano concerto cycle with the less frequently performed Second and Third concertos. The Second Concerto radiates warmth from its very first note. The Third Concerto, despite being barely a fraction of the length of its more famous predecessors, shines with Tchaikovsky’s vivid imagination and dazzling piano writing.

The programme also features Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, showcasing the great Russian composer’s mastery of orchestration and his ability to evoke powerful emotions through music. 

“Jaap & Niu Niu” will be held on 7 February (Fri) at 8PM and 8 February (Sat) at 5PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$680, $540, $400 and $260 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Swire Maestro Series: Jaap | Rachmaninov 2 (14 & 15 February)

After the successful premiere of Raymond Yiu’s Old Bei in 2021, Jaap van Zweden returns to conduct a new piece by the Hong Kong composer. Co-commissioned by the HK Phil, BBC Radio 3 and the Seattle Symphony, Yiu’s new violin concerto pays tribute to Chinese violinist and composer Ma Sicong. The folksong-based second movement, “Nostalgia”, derived from Ma’s Inner Mongolia Suite (1937) is well-known to Chinese listeners, and resonates throughout Yiu’s concerto, which is itself a meditation on the sorrows of exile. The piece was especially composed for soloist Esther Yoo, who impressed Hong Kong audiences as a young prodigy in 2013.

The second half of the programme features Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, celebrated for its tender romanticism and enduring popularity. Premiered in St. Petersburg in 1908 under the baton of the composer himself, the symphony was met with immense success and critical acclaim, quickly becoming a staple in the standard repertoire.

“Swire Maestro Series: Jaap | Rachmaninov 2” will be held on 14 February (Fri) at 8PM and 15 February (Sat) at 5PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$680, $540, $400 and $260 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

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Artists

Jaap van Zweden, conductor [full description]

Jaap van Zweden, born in Amsterdam, began his distinguished musical career as the youngest-ever concertmaster of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at age 19. He transitioned to conducting in 1996 and has since become a prominent figure in the field. He served as the 26^th Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from 2018 to 2024, and Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra from 2012 to 2024. In January 2024, he took on the role of Music Director of the Seoul Philharmonic and is set to begin as Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France Paris in September 2026.

Niu Niu, piano [full description]

Niu Niu is the stage name of Zhang Shengliang, who was born into a musical family in Xiamen in 1997. At the age of eight, he became the youngest student ever enrolled in the affiliated primary school of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 2014, he was admitted to New York’s Juilliard School with a full scholarship and graduated in 2018. Niu Niu signed to EMI Classics at the age of nine, making him the youngest pianist ever signed to an international classical label. Since then, he has released nine albums. Fate & Hope and Lifetime, the two albums released by Decca Classics, includes his own composition Hope and Miss. 

Esther Yoo, violin [full description]

Esther Yoo is recognised for her profound depth of expression and breathtakingly dazzling technique, making her unquestionably now one of the world’s leading violinists. She has appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Orquestra Sinfónica RTVE, Melbourne Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as at Lincoln Center, Royal Albert Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Aspen Music Festival and the BBC Proms. Her collaborations with leading conductors include Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jaap Van Zweden, Tugan Sokhiev, Myung-Whun Chung, Vasily Petrenko, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Dalia Stasevska and Karina Canellakis.

Raymond Yiu, composer [full description]

Raymond Yiu is the winner of an Ivors Classical Award in 2010 for Northwest Wind, and was nominated for the same award in 2004 (Beyond the Glass), 2012 (Les Etoiles au Front), 2013 (The London Citizen Exceedingly Injured), and 2018 (Mielo) respectively. He has worked with ensembles and artists including BBC Singers, BBC Philharmonic, Chroma, Concorde Ensemble, Ensemble 10/10, London Sinfonietta, Lontano, London Symphony Orchestra, and Nouvel Ensemble Moderne.

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JAAP & NIU NIU

7 & 8 | 2 | 2025

FRI 8PM

SAT 5PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$680 $540 $400 $260

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme

SWIRE MAESTRO SERIES: JAAP | RACHMANINOV 2

14 & 15 | 2 | 2025

FRI 8PM

SAT 5PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$680 $540 $400 $260

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme