Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is one of Asia’s top Western-style performing ensembles. The group’s large recording catalog is balanced between Western and Asian (not only Chinese) repertory. While amateur orchestral ensembles existed in British Hong Kong as far back as 1895, they came and went, and their concerts were sporadic. The direct ancestor of the present Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra was the Sino-British Orchestra, formed in 1947 as an offshoot of the larger Sino-British Club social group. With violinist Simon Bard conducting a group of about 20 players, the group succeeded in spite of difficult post-World War II conditions. Under conductor Arrigo Foa, who succeeded Bard in 1953, the orchestra improved, beginning to attract international guest artists such as Hungarian pianist Louis Kentner. The group took the name Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957, but it remained a chamber-sized group with about 27 musicians. Lim Kektjiang was appointed to succeed Foa as music director, and it was he who transformed the Philharmonic into a professional group. Kektjiang was succeeded by Hans Günter Mommer in 1975; he grew the orchestra’s size to a membership of 78 and pushed it toward European repertory before stepping down in 1978. The Hong Kong Philharmonic ran through several more music directors before conductor Kenneth Schermerhorn was appointed music director in 1984, remaining until 1989. He led the orchestra on a tour of China and made several recordings of music by Heitor Villa-Lobos and other composers. Schermerhorn’s successor was David Atherton, who served from 1989 to 2000, recorded several albums of music by Stravinsky, and continued as conductor laureate. The orchestra also recorded Chinese music under Chinese conductors, including a 1995 album featuring the Fantasia on Cantonese Folk Themes of composer Chen Peixun, conducted by Yip Wing-sie, and its recording program has continued to mix Western and Chinese material. Conductors in the 21st century have included Samuel Wong (2000-2005), Edo de Waart (2004-2012), and, since 2012, Jaap van Zweden, who combined his duties with those as music director of the New York Philharmonic. In 2015, under van Zweden, the orchestra began a project to perform the four operas of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, becoming the first Chinese orchestra to do so; the performances were recorded and released on the Naxos label. Guest artists who have appeared with the orchestra make up a roster of top international stars, including pianist Yuja Wang, soprano Deborah Voigt, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. In 2023, on Naxos, the Hong Kong Philharmonic released a recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47, and Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70, with van Zweden conducting. ~ James Manheim