Tarmo Peltokoski Concludes HK Phil’s 2025/26 Season with A Sea Symphony

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[25 June 2026, Hong Kong] Tarmo Peltokoski, Music Director Designate of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil), returns to conclude HK Phil’s 2025/26 season with Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony in July, featuring distinguished soloists and choruses. Following these landmark orchestral performances, Peltokoski will join soprano Chen Reiss for a lieder recital. Tickets are now on sale.

Season Finale: Tarmo Peltokoski Conducts Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony (3 & 4 July)

The Season Finale opens with HK Phil Composer-in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Pollux, the companion piece to Castor. Salonen’s introspective Pollux is inspired by the mythological twin of the Gemini constellation. Next comes Vaughan Williams’s expansive A Sea Symphony, which sets the poetry of Walt Whitman, charts a spiritual voyage across the ocean, with its themes of exploration and humanity. The HK Phil joins forces with soprano Chen Reiss, bass-baritone Andrè Schuen, and more than 100 singers from the HK Phil Chorus, the State Choir LATVIJA, and Tenebrae, setting sail on a musical odyssey.

“Season Finale: Tarmo Peltokoski Conducts Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony” will be held on 3 July 2026 (Fri) at 7:30PM and 4 July 2026 (Sat) at 5PM at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced at HK$880, $700, $520 and $380 are available at URBTIX. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

HK PHIL × HKU MUSE: Tarmo Peltokoski & Chen Reiss (5 July)

Tarmo Peltokoski performs at the piano with soprano Chen Reiss in a lieder recital. Reiss, praised as “a voice of silver brightness and clarity”, is one of today’s most admired interpreters of song. From Schumann’s tender Frauenliebe und Leben, Berg’s introspective Sieben frühe Lieder, to Mahler’s luminous Rückert-Lieder, the recital explores the full expressive range of German Lied.

“HK PHIL × HKU MUSE: Tarmo Peltokoski & Chen Reiss” will be held on 5 July 2026 (Sun) at 3PM at The Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre Grand Hall, The University of Hong Kong. Tickets priced at HK$320 and $220 are available at art-mate.net. For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit hkphil.org.

Co-presenter: HKU MUSE

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Artists

Tarmo Peltokoski, conductor [full description]

Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski will become Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2026/27 season following his tenure as Music Director Designate in 2025/26. He currently serves as Music Director of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and as Principal Guest Conductor of both the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest. He is Conductor Laureate of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, where he held his first Music Director position from 2022 to 2025.

Chen Reiss, soprano [full description]

With “a voice of silver brightness and clarity” (Bachtrack) with “immaculately produced and enticing tone matched by superb musicianship” (Opera News), soprano Chen Reiss came to prominence as a member of the ensemble of the Bavarian State Opera and as resident artist at the Vienna State Opera.

Andrè Schuen, bass-baritone [full description]

Andrè Schuen, originally from the Ladin-speaking village of La Val in South Tyrol, grew up trilingual – speaking Ladin, Italian, and German – a linguistic richness reflected in the stylistic diversity of his repertoire, which spans from Italian bel canto and German Lieder to major roles in the operatic canon. After initial training as a cellist, he studied voice at the Mozarteum University Salzburg with Horiana Brănișteanu and Wolfgang Holzmair.

Hong Kong Philharmonic Chorus [full description]

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Chorus (HK Phil Chorus) has been delighting audiences since its inception in 1980. Over the years, it has showcased a diverse range of choral masterpieces in exclusive collaboration with the HK Phil. In 2013, the chorus launched an extensive recruitment campaign that attracted over 450 singers to audition. The newly formed ensemble made its debut with a performance of Handel’s Messiah and has gone on to sing major works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Britten, Haydn and Mahler, under the direction of renowned conductors like Lorin Maazel, Jaap van Zweden and Nicholas McGegan. Notably, the Chorus’s Fellowship programme was inaugurated during the 2020/21 season, setting the stage for aspiring professional singers to join this distinguished ensemble.

State Choir LATVIJA, chorus [full description]

The State Choir LATVIJA is one of the most significant monuments of Latvian cultural life and history. The choir’s musical radiance is defined by the vocal culture and sound of the Latvian choral tradition, characterised by warmth, balance and precision. The State Choir LATVIJA is the largest professional choir in the Baltic States, and it is regularly in demand on the concert programmes of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. Since 1997, the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the choir has been Māris Sirmais, while for the years 1997–2025 the choir’s General Manager has been Māris Ošlejs, followed by Sanda Katkeviča from November 2025.

Tenebrae, chorus [full description]

Described as “phenomenal” (The Times) and “devastatingly beautiful” (Gramophone), award-winning choir Tenebrae is one of the world’s leading vocal ensembles, renowned for its passion and precision. Under the direction of Nigel Short, Tenebrae performs at major festivals and venues across the globe, including the BBC Proms, Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Rheingau Musik Festival and Sydney Festival. The choir has earned international acclaim for its interpretations of choral works from the Renaissance through to contemporary masterpieces, and it regularly commissions new music. 

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Season Finale:

Tarmo Peltokoski Conducts Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony

3 & 4 | 7 | 2026

FRI 7:30PM & SAT 5PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall 

HK$880 $700 $520 $380

Tickets now available at URBTIX

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme

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HK PHIL × HKU MUSE: Tarmo Peltokoski & Chen Reiss

5 | 7 | 2026

SUN 3PM

Grand Hall, The Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, The University of Hong Kong

HK$320 $220

Tickets now available at art-mate.net

For ages 6 and above

Artists

Programme