The HK Phil’s first two programmes in 2022 feature Principal Guest Conductor Yu Long and three dazzling soloists
SWIRE MAESTRO SERIES: YU LONG | BERNSTEIN (7 & 8 JANUARY)
YU LONG | TCHAIKOVSKY 5 (14 & 15 JANUARY)

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[28 December 2021, Hong Kong] Following thesold-outNew Year Year’s concerts, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) distinguished Principal Guest Conductor, Yu Long, will kickstart the new year by conductingthe orchestra’s first two programmes of 2022. While limited seats of the January concerts are still available, fans should act quickly to snap up remaining tickets!

On 7 & 8 January 2022 (Fri & Sat), Swire Maestro Series: Yu Long | Bernstein will featurerenowned erhu player Yiwen Lu and pianist Zee Zee. Yu Long | Tchaikovsky 5, on 14 & 15 January 2022 (Fri & Sat), will showcase the HK Phil’s Guest Principal Trumpet Nitiphum Bamrungbanthum. Both concerts will be in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.

Swire Maestro Series: Yu Long | Bernstein (7 & 8 January)

Maestro Yu Long opens this concert with the prelude to Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, which paints a musical picture of Dawn over the Moscow River, and incorporates a Russian folk melody. Also featuring an ancient melody,Chen Qigang’s Un Temps Disparu, looks back both to China’s Jin Dynasty and the composer’s early life experiences. In this magical and evocative work, erhu soloist Yiwen Lu will join the HK Phil offering concertgoers the unique experience of an ancient Chinese instrument soloing with a modern Western orchestra. Wrapping up the concert is Bernstein’s Symphony no.2 – The Age of Anxiety. Half symphony and half piano concerto, this was Leonard Bernstein’s musical response to W H Auden’s poem about the futility of a hedonistic lifestyle. One of America’s most remarkable and versatile musicians, Bernstein also possessed a strong awareness of social injustice. Virtuosopianist Zee Zee takes on the demanding piano part.

Swire Maestro Series: Yu Long | Bernstein will be heldon 7 & 8 January 2022 (Fri & Sat) at 8PMin the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$480, $380 and $280 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Yu Long | Tchaikovsky 5 (14 & 15 January)

The concert opens with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Overture to The Tsar’s Bride, an operabased on a play by Lev Mey concerning Tsar Ivan IV whose third wife died on the day of her wedding. The Overture portrays this romantic tragedy filled with drama and tension. Named Principal Trumpet of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra in 2017 at the age of 20 and highly acclaimed by Bangkok Post as one of the Thailand's “most exciting musical prospects”, HK Phil Guest Principal Trumpet Nitiphum Bamrungbanthum, will perform Haydn’s remarkable Trumpet Concerto, the third movement of which was used in the popular Netflix TV Series, Squid Game. Marking a triumphant and unforgettable end to the evening, Tchaikovsky’s glorious Symphony no. 5 will perfectly showcase the passion of Yu Long and the HK Phil.

Yu Long | Tchaikovsky 5 will be heldon 14 & 15 January 2022 (Fri & Sat) at 8PMin the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$480, $380 and $280 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

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Artists (Swire Maestro Series: Yu Long | Bernstein)

Yu Long, conductor[full description]

Hailed as the “most powerful figure in China’s classical music scene” by The New York Times, Chinese conductor Long Yu holds positions as Chairman of the Artistic Committee of the Beijing Music Festival, Artist Director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the Shanghai and Guangzhou Symphony orchestras, Co-director of MISA Shanghai Summer Festival, and Principal Guest Conductor of the HK Phil.

Yiwen Lu, erhu[full description]

Yiwen Lu is director of the Erhu Committee of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society, and currently teaches erhu at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She won the Erhu Youth Group's highest performance award at the 4^th Wenhua Prize and the Gold Medal of the 10^th Golden Bell Award Erhu Competition. She was also listed among “The Top Ten Chinese Erhu Players” by CCTV in 2014.

Zee Zee, piano[full description]

Zee Zee is “full of enthusiasm and glamour, radiating the vigour of youth” (Chinese Gramophone), and her creative maturity has been hailed as “a powerful, passionate and compelling representation of pure artistry” (Los Angeles Times). Recent highlights have included the season opening concert with the Estonian National Symphony under Neeme Järvi, the Macedonian Philharmonic, the China Philharmonic at the Beijing Music Festival, the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, London, under Paavo Järvi, and the complete piano concertos of Beethoven and Saint-Saëns with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

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Artists (Yu Long | Tchaikovsky 5)

Yu Long, conductor[full description]

Hailed as the “most powerful figure in China’s classical music scene” by The New York Times, Chinese conductor Long Yu holds positions as Chairman of the Artistic Committee of the Beijing Music Festival, Artist Director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the Shanghai and Guangzhou Symphony orchestras, Co-director of MISA Shanghai Summer Festival, and Principal Guest Conductor of the HK Phil.

Nitiphum Bamrungbanthum, trumpet[full description]

Nitiphum Bamrungbanthum is currently Guest Principal Trumpet of the HK Phil. He was named Principal Trumpet of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra in 2017 at the age of 20. Previously he served as Co-Principal of the Princess Galyani Vadhana Youth Orchestra and the Mahidol Wind Orchestra. He is a founding member of the Zero Brass Quintet, which was awarded the 2^nd Prize (no first prize awarded) in the 18^th Osaka International Music Competition (Mixed Chamber Music Division).

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SWIRE MAESTRO SERIES: YU LONG | BERNSTEIN (7 & 8 JANUARY)

7 & 8 | 1 | 2022

FRI & SAT 8PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

HK $480 $380 $280

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme

*****

YU LONG | TCHAIKOVSKY 5 (14 & 15 JANUARY)

14 & 15 | 1 | 2022

FRI & SAT 8PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

HK $480 $380 $280

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme

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