Renowned Austrian clarinettist Andreas Ottensamer will make a conducting debut in Hong Kong with the Basel Chamber Orchestra from Switzerland at the Leisure & Cultural Services Department’s Great Music 2024 and stage a concert in the city in late June.

Hong Kong is the first stop of the orchestra’s Asian tour this season, and it will begin the concert with Stravinsky's Prelude to The Rake's Progress and Honegger's Pastorale d´été.

Accompanied by Japanese pianist Kyohei Sorita, who will also be making his debut in Hong Kong, Mr Ottensamer will lead the orchestra in the performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G. The concert will conclude with a presentation of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 in A, 'Italian'.

The Basel Chamber Orchestra was established in 1984 and is rooted in the city of Basel. As the first orchestra awarded the Swiss Music Prize in 2019, the group stands out for its excellence and diversity as well as its depth and consistency.

As one of the leading clarinettists, Mr Ottensamer has performed as a clarinet soloist with prestigious orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

He was awarded the Neeme Järvi Prize by the Gstaad Conducting Academy and is currently the artistic director of the Bürgenstock Festival in Switzerland and the principal clarinettist of the Berlin Philharmonic.

The Basel Chamber Orchestra concert will be staged at 8pm on June 25 at Hong Kong City Hall. Tickets are available at URBTIX. Call 3166 1288 for telephone bookings.

For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, call 2268 7321 or visit the programme website.