The “HKGNA Music Festival 2023” brings together world-acclaimed artists and HK’s rising stars from top universities to deliver the “Voice of Our Next Generation”
This year’s festival pays tribute to the next generation of Hong Kong’s talent, celebrating their potential as the future stars. International guest artists, along with Hong Kong’s own virtuosos, will share the stage with the city’s most promising young musicians from various institutions. These institutions include the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), University of Hong Kong (HKU), Polytechnic University of Hong Kong (PolyU), City University of Hong Kong (CityU), and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (HKAPA).
The programme is set to feature a mix of beloved classical music pieces and contemporary works, catering to the diverse musical tastes of the city. The event has a dual aim: to foster a love for music among Hong Kong’s younger generation and to showcase the talent emerging from the city’s top universities to a global audience. All concerts will be edited and broadcast by the event’s media partner, CJENM, on the tvN Asia channel, reaching nine different countries/regions. This significant event plays a crucial role in promoting Hong Kong as an international hub for culture and education.
Admission to all performances at venues across the city is complimentary.
The festival is organised by Hong Kong Generation Next Arts Ltd, with support from various government and private organisations. These include Brand Hong Kong, the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation Sino Group, Intermediate Capital Group (ICG), the Korean Consulate, and the Korean Cultural Center in Hong Kong.
HKGNA Founder & Artistic Director Michelle Kim.
The opening concert on November 3 will feature the world-renowned violinist, Ju-Young Baek. She will perform alongside the HKBU Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Professor Johnny Poon. Born in South Korea, Baek is celebrated as one of today’s most distinguished violinists and boasts an extensive international career. Her career took off after she won first prize at the YCA Auditions in New York City and the Astral Artists of Philadelphia. She has been presented in recitals and as a soloist at many of the world’s most significant venues. Baek has earned accolades in numerous prestigious competitions and is a laureate of the Indianapolis, Paganini, Sibelius, Long-Thibaud, and Queen Elisabeth International Competitions.
Professor Poon, a regular on the world’s most prestigious concert stages, has led major ensembles across Europe, North America, and Asia. The Opening Concert is set to take place at the HKBU Academic Community Hall.
Left, violinist, Ju-Young Baek; and right, harpist, Lavinia Meijer.
The chamber music concert on November 10 will be headlined by the internationally acclaimed Dutch harpist, Lavinia Meijer. Recognised as one of the most innovative and influential musicians of our era, Meijer has showcased her harp concertos with leading orchestras and conductors worldwide, from Carnegie Hall in New York City to the Berlin Philharmonie. The concert, to be held at CUHK’s Lee Hysan Concert Hall, will feature Meijer performing alongside pianist Nancy Loo, flautist and Department Chair Dr Frederick Lau, alum clarinettist Linus Fung, violinists Aimee Sung and Wu Kiu Lap, violist Caleb Wong, cellist Yan Ho Cheng, and Dutch composer/double bassist Reyer Zwart.
Masterpieces by Mozart, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, Respighi, Piazzolla, and Morricone will be brought to life in a collaboration between Maestro Lorenzo Iosco and the HKU Philharmonic Orchestra at HKU’s Loke Yew Hall on November 22. This evening of pure musical bliss will also feature performances by HK Phil Virtuosos Concertmaster Jing Wang, Viola Principal Andrew Ling, and Mezzo-soprano Ashley Chui.
Iosco, an Italian clarinettist and conductor, made his conducting debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 2021 in a programme that featured works by Italian composer Nino Rota.
Hong Kong’s own harmonicist, Gordon Lee, and saxophonist, Timothy Sun, will take centre stage at the concert on November 28 at the PolyU Jockey Club Auditorium. Both musicians have earned impressive international accolades. Lee, who is widely considered one of the world’s foremost harmonicists, clinched the championship at the esteemed World Harmonica Festival in Germany in 2017. Sun studied saxophone and clarinet under George Galway at the Ellen Wilkinson High School of Art in England starting in 1997. In 2001, he made history as the first Chinese student of saxophone and clarinet at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to receive a full scholarship for Bachelor’s degree study.
Under the direction of conductor Leung Kin Fung, Lee and Sun will captivate the audience in collaboration with the PolyU Orchestra.
The HKGNA Music Festival 2023 is set to be one of these rare events that assemble some of the world’s most esteemed musical talents. On December 7, at the HKAPA Concert Hall, the introspective and deeply emotional nature of Brahms’s music will be showcased in “Brahms: The Inner Voice”. This performance is a collaboration between the legendary Korean pianist, Kun-woo Paik, and Chinese violinist Dan Zhu. Zhu, who made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 18 performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, has been described by The Strad magazine as “an artist of affecting humility and beautiful tone production”.
Left, pianist Kun-woo Paik, and right, violinist Dan Zhu.
For the grand finale concert at the Concert Hall, HKAPA, on December 8, Paik and Zhu will join forces with conductor Sharon Andrea Choa and the brightest young talents of the Academy Symphony Orchestra. This promises to be a memorable evening where distinguished musicians will inspire emerging artists to establish themselves as the ‘voice of the next generation’.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the concerts presented by the HKGNA Music Festival 2023, where you can witness the transformative power of world-class artists.
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