Living Music, Music Living: Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s New Season
Music is an essential part of our everyday living, and it also opens us to a world of infinite possibilities and emotions. The power of music is unlimited, whether for change, for peace, for empathy, for growth or just for pure enjoyment.
This is the motto of Hong Kong Sinfonietta for their anticipated 2025/2026 season with the theme “Living Music, Music Living”. Featuring a line-up of international renowned artists and local talents, the new season is the orchestra’s tribute to the power of music on our lives.
As expressed by the orchestra’s Music Director Christoph Poppen, “Music is our life – but it is also yours. Can you imagine a day without music? Our life is limited, but the symphonies which we perform have survived hundreds of years without losing any of their beauty and energy. It is an enormous gift to be inspired, touched, and energised by the power of music”.
With their new season, the flagship orchestra will inspire and delight the local audience with more than 40 programmes, joined by leading soloists and conductors celebrated worldwide.
Nicolas Altstaedt
The new season will be opened by distinguished German-French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt performing Walton’s Cello Concerto, a centrepiece of 20th century cello literature, with Music Director Christoph Poppen (12 April), preceded by his solo recital (9 April).
The season will also mark the long-awaited return of legendary violinist Midori, who will play Mendelssohn’s luminous Violin Concerto, under the baton of Daniel Raiskin (29 November), as well as a recital of timeless classics by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, etc (27 November).
Midori
French renowned piano trio Trio Wanderer, three-time winner of Best Instrumental Ensemble of the Year at the prestigious French Victoires de la Musique Classique, will make their Hong Kong début on the occasion of the French May Arts Festival 2025, collaborating with Music Director Designate of Prague Symphony Orchestra Tomáš Netopil to perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto (17 May), on top of a recital of exquisite trios by Debussy, Ravel and Mendelssohn (14 May).
Trio Wanderer
Also for the French May, acclaimed French conductor Pascal Rophé will bring Ravel’s enchanting masterpiece Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose), as well as Bruch’s iconic Violin Concerto in G minor featuring rising star violinist Alexandra Soumm (31 May).
Piano aficionados will be delighted by some of the best-loved piano concertos under the baton of Music Director Christoph Poppen. Renowned German pianist Martin Helmchen will perform Schumann’s fantastic Piano Concerto (21 June), while 2nd Prize winner of the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition Alexander Gadjiev, and 1st Prize winner of the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition Denis Kozhukhin, will play Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2 and No 3 (respectively on 8 November and 25 October).
The WHOOP Group
Helmed by Music Director Emeritus Yip Wing-sie, the charismatic Polish saxophone quartet The WHOOP Group will perform in Hong Kong for the first time a virtuosic arrangement of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (12 July), arranged by the newly appointed HKS Artist Associate Anna Lo, a multi-talented artist who had numerous successful collaborations with the orchestra in the past decade. The quartet will also be going all out in a recital showcasing their rule-breaking musical imagination and mastery (13 July).
Anna Lo
Alongside standard orchestral repertoire, HKS also features premières of works by living composers, having commissioned over 90 new works throughout the years in its endeavour to keep music alive and contemporary.
Leading Hong Kong composer Charles Kwong, who has just received a commission from the Lucerne Summer Festival this year for a concert commemorating the 100th birthday of Pierre Boulez, wrote the Piano Concerto Hereafters for Hong Kong star pianist Colleen Lee, commissioned by HKS. The work will make its long-awaited world première this month under the baton of Music Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec Clemens Schuldt (26 April).
Ilya Gringolts
Celebrated violinist Ilya Gringolts, who was the 1st prize winner of the Paganini Competition in 1998 and is still the youngest winner in the competition’s history, will return to Hong Kong for the Asian première of Chaya Czernowin’s fascinating Moths of Hunger and Awe, co-commissioned by HKS, Munich Chamber Orchestra and Musikkollegium Winterthur, under the baton of Bas Wiegers, Associated Conductor of the Munich Chamber Orchestra (13 September).
Award-winning Japanese composer Dai Fujikura’s captivating work for orchestra and electronics, Ritual, will make its Hong Kong première under the baton of Taiwanese conductor Chien Wen-pin (7 February 2026).
Live animation Grégoire Pont
HKS has constantly endeavoured to bring classical music closer to everyone. As part of the International Arts Carnival 2025, the orchestra has invited French illustrator and animator Grégoire Pont to showcase his signature Cinesthetics performance concept to Hong Kong for the first time, where he will combine his charming live-drawings and animation with live orchestral performances of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Ravel’s Mother Goose for a spectacular audiovisual feast, under the baton of Jason Lai (2 and 3 August). Lai will also conduct the educational programme “The Other Side of Schumann” which delves into the life and works of the German Romantic great, featuring pianist Colleen Lee (8 and 9 August).
Jason Lai
This Summer, the orchestra’s long-term friend and local cartoon icon McDull will return in McDull．Pictures at a Concert conducted and presented by Music Director Emeritus Yip Wing-sie (22 to 24 August), a fantastical exploration of the interconnected beauty of music and visual arts.
The orchestra will also continue with their popular Good Music for Kids and Good Music for Babies concert series, presented by Associate Conductor Vivian Ip and Music Director Emeritus Yip Wing-sie (6 to 8 June and 13 to 15 February 2026 respectively).
Yip Wing-sie and HK Sinfonietta
For those who are looking to recharge with some chamber music in the afternoon, do look out for the orchestra’s free lunchtime concert series Panasonic Proudly Sponsors: Good Music This Lunch, which takes place regularly at Hong Kong City Hall.
Full line-up of the orchestra’s new season can be found below:
New season online brochure: https://www.hksl.org/2526brochure
New season programmes details: www.HKSL.org/concert
