Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

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Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Background information
Origin Hong Kong
Genres Classical
Popular music
Soundtrack
Television score
Video game music
New Age
Occupations Philharmonic orchestra
Years active 1957-present
Website www.hkpo.com
Members
Artistic Director/Chief Conductor
Edo de Waart
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Chinese 香港管弦樂團

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra; commonly abbreviated HKPO (港樂), is the largest symphony orchestra in Hong Kong. First established in 1895 as an amateur orchestra, under the name Sino-British Orchestra (中英管弦樂團)[1], it was renamed the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957, and became a professional orchestra in 1974 under the funding of the Government.

Contents

[edit] Background

The orchestra has promoted Hong Kong-based composers by commissioning and premiering numerous works of contemporary music, including the recent five-work cycle of Voices of Hong Kong, by John Chen, David Gwilt, Daniel Law, Law Ping-leung and Richard Tsang.

In February 1986, the HKPO made its debut tour of several cities in the People's Republic of China, with conductor Kenneth Schermerhorn and soloists Stephanie Chase (violin) and Li Jian (piano). In the autumn of 1995, the HKPO travelled to 9 cities in the United States and Canada in its North American début. In 2003, the orchestra made its European début with performances in London's Barbican Hall, Belfast, Dublin and Paris (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées).

Edo de Waart has been the orchestra's Artistic Director and Chief Conductor since the 2004/2005 season, and he is scheduled to conclude his HKPO tenure after the 2011-2012 season.[2] Past Music Directors include David Atherton, who is now the orchestra's Conductor Laureate. In January 2012, the HKPO announced the appointment of Jaap van Zweden as its next Music Director, as of the 2012-2013 season, with an initial contract of 4 seasons.[3]

Of its HK$108 million budget for the 2009/2010 season, about sixty percent came from the Hong Kong government. The remaining forty percent came from box office revenue, performance fees, sponsorship, advertising and donations.

The orchestra gives more than 140 performances annually to an audience of over 180,000 in various venues including the Concert Hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the City Hall Concert Hall. In addition to classical performances, it occasionally appears backing local pop stars such as Hacken Lee, Jacky Cheung, Frances Yip, Teresa Carpio, Leehom Wang and Hins Cheung.

[edit] Conductors

Artistic Directors
Conductor Laureate
  • 2000–present David Atherton
Principal Guest Conductors
Resident Conductors

[edit] Other Hong Kong orchestras

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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