Manfred Honeck Opens HK Phil’s 2026/27 Season
Yuan Ding and Zitong Wang Make HK Phil Debuts
in National Day and Belt and Road Concerts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: 
Dennis Wu
Director of Marketing 
Tel: (852) 2721 9035
Email: dennis.wu@hkphil.org 

Emily Hui
Media Relations and Communications Manager
Tel: (852) 2721 1585
Email: emily.hui@hkphil.org

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[7 September 2026, Hong Kong] The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is pleased to announce the return of world-renowned conductor Manfred Honeck for its 2026/27 season opening. In celebration of National Day and the Belt and Road Initiative, the HK Phil welcomes distinguished conductor Yuan Ding and award-winning pianist Zitong Wang, both making their HK Phil debuts. All performances will be held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets are now available at URBTIX.

Season Opening: Manfred Honeck’s Pastoral and Elektra (16 & 17 September)

Celebrated conductor Manfred Honeck returns to open the HK Phil’s 2026/27 season with two starkly contrasting works. 

The programme opens with Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, a visionary work that opened new possibilities for symphonic music and gave it a vivid narrative voice. Honeck juxtaposes its evocation of Beethoven’s love of nature with his own Suite from Strauss’s Elektra co-arranged with Czech composer Tomáš Ille. Set against the backdrop of Mycenae in the years after the Trojan War, the Suite further distils the world of Elektra, Clytemnestra, and Orest through its music.

“Season Opening: Manfred Honeck’s Pastoral and Elektra” will be held on 16 and 17 September 2026 (Wed & Thu) at 7:30PM at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$780, $600, $420 and $340 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

National Day Concert: Zitong Wang Plays Prokofiev (24 September)

Described by Chopin Courier as “one of the most captivating personalities”, Zitong Wang, Third Prize Winner of the 19th International Chopin Piano Competition, makes her HK Phil debut performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto no. 3.

Under the baton of Yuan Ding, Principal Resident Conductor of the China National Opera House, the concert opens with Chinese composer Yao Chen’s Garden: Unearthing the Way Home, a poetic soundscape inspired by the art of garden. The evening concludes with Rachmaninov’s First Symphony.

“National Day Concert: Zitong Wang Plays Prokofiev” will be held on 24 September 2026 (Thu) at 7:30PM at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$520, $420, $320 and $220 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Concert Sponsor: CMB Wing Lung Bank

Swire Proudly Sponsors: Belt and Road: Zitong Wang Plays Chopin (26 September)

HK Phil and Swire share a common vision of promoting Hong Kong as a global arts and culture hub. Sponsored by Swire for the third consecutive year, the Belt and Road concert aims to foster cultural exchange by presenting musicians and masterpieces from Belt-and-Road countries.

Award-winning pianist Zitong Wang brings Chopin’s Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante to the Belt and Road concert. The concert opens with Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave, a work infused with folk-inspired melodies and patriotic spirit. Yao Chen’s Garden: Unearthing the Way Home follows, before Rachmaninov’s First Symphony brings the evening to a close.

“Swire Proudly Sponsors: Belt and Road: Zitong Wang Plays Chopin” will be held on 26 September 2026 (Sat) at 5:00PM at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$520, $420, $320 and $220 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Title Sponsor: Swire

Supporting Organisation: Belt and Road Office, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the Government of the HKSAR

The concert is one of the programmes of the Asia+ Festival 2026

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Artists

Manfred Honeck, conductor [full description]

Manfred Honeck is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading conductors, renowned for his distinctive and revelatory interpretations that have garnered international acclaim. As Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where he is about to enter his 19th season, he continues to shape the orchestra’s artistic identity with a deep sense of purpose and passion. His tenure, recently extended through the 2032/2033 season, has seen the orchestra flourish both artistically and as a cultural ambassador for the city of Pittsburgh. Celebrated at home and abroad, guest appearances under his leadership include Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, as well as the major venues of Europe and leading festivals such as the BBC Proms, Salzburg Festival, Musikfest Berlin, Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, and Grafenegg Festival.

Yuan Ding, conductor [full description]

Yuan Ding is Principal Conductor and Art Committee member of China National Opera House. As an acclaimed conductor, Yuan Ding has successfully conducted in recent years, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, South Westphalia Philharmonic Orchestra, Oper Leipzig, West Sachsen Symphony Orchestra, Jenaer Philharmonie, the orchestra and chorus of Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig, Korea National Opera. He has also maintained a long-term and fruitful cooperative relationship with the top domestic art groups including China National Symphony Orchestra and its Chorus, China NCPA Orchestra and its Chorus, National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra, China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Opera House and Macao Orchestra.

Zitong Wang, pianist [full description]

Zitong Wang's authenticity, bravura and sensitivity have enchanted audiences over the years, particularly so at the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition (2025) where she claimed the Bronze Medal and the Krystian Zimerman Award for Best Performance of a Sonata. In her most recent seasons, she has taken the stage of prestigious venues, including the Berlin Philharmonie, Munich Prinzregententheater, Warsaw Philharmonic, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Seoul Arts Center, National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing), Polish Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk and the Shanghai Symphony Hall, among others, where her performances won ardent reception.

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Season Opening: Manfred Honeck’s Pastoral and Elektra

16 & 17 | 9 | 2026

WED & THU 7:30PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall 

HK$780 $600 $420 $340

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme

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National Day Concert: Zitong Wang Plays Prokofiev

24 | 9 | 2026

THU 7:30PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

HK$520 $420 $320 $220

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme

***

Swire Proudly Sponsors: Belt and Road: Zitong Wang Plays Chopin

26 | 9 | 2026

SAT 5:00PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall 

HK$520 $420 $320 $220

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme