HK orchestra releases details of new season

On Tuesday, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra unveiled its 2025/26 season, in the presence of Finnish conductor and pianist Tarmo Peltokoski, its current music director designate who will become music director in September 2026.

Twenty-six main stage programs were announced with an international roster of guest artists and ensembles.

"This season, I will present three programs, all featuring compositions by my dear friend and mentor (Finnish composer and conductor) Esa-Pekka Salonen, who will be our composer-in-residence, with five of his works performed. We also have an impressive lineup of guest artists joining us," said Peltokoski, who will also perform masterpieces by Grieg, Sibelius, Shostakovich and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

As both a lauded composer and a renowned conductor, Salonen is currently the music director of the San Francisco Symphony.

During the new season, acclaimed conductors, soloists and choirs will be in the spotlight, including Italian maestro Daniele Gatti, Swedish conductor Daniel Harding, composer-conductor Tan Dun, pianist Lang Lang, and soprano Renee Fleming.

Other highlights will include violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter bringing her artistry to an all-John Williams program, in which classical grandeur intertwines with the music from the silver-screen.

The Berliner Philharmoniker's principal violist Diyang Mei will join principal guest conductor Yu Long and the orchestra for an emotional program that intertwines the work of Joe Hisaishi and Brahms.