The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra marks National Day this year with a pianist making her HK Phil debut straight off a major international prize, playing one of the most technically demanding concertos in the repertoire.
In This Guide
Who is Zitong Wang?
Pianist Zitong Wang arrives in Hong Kong on the strength of a Third Prize win at the International Chopin Piano Competition, one of classical music's most prestigious contests. Chopin Courier has described her as "one of the most captivating personalities" among the competition's recent generation of pianists. This concert marks her debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and she's tackling one of the repertoire's most demanding showpieces for her first outing with the orchestra: Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, a work known as much for its whimsical, folk-inflected opening as for the barnstorming virtuosity it demands in its final movement.
The programme: from Chinese gardens to Russian symphony
The evening opens with Chinese composer Yao Chen's Garden: Unearthing the Way Home, a poetic soundscape inspired by the art of garden-making that the orchestra frames as a journey of spiritual renewal. Zitong Wang then joins the orchestra for Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26, before the second half is given over entirely to Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13, a brooding, dramatic work that closes the evening with full symphonic weight. The concert runs approximately two hours including an intermission, and is suitable for ages 6 and above.
The conductor: Yuan Ding
On the podium is Yuan Ding, Principal Resident Conductor of the China National Opera House. His pairing with a rising international prize-winner and a genuinely varied, three-composer programme is typical of how HK Phil frames its National Day concerts — not a single patriotic set-piece, but a programme that puts a new Chinese work alongside a Russian romantic staple and a high-wire piano concerto.
Date, venue and tickets
National Day Concert: Zitong Wang Plays Prokofiev
House rules bar eating, drinking and photography/recording during the performance; latecomers are only admitted at a suitable break. Some Stalls seats (rows C, AA, BB and seat HH27) and the wheelchair boxes carry restricted sightlines — worth checking the seat plan before booking those specific seats.
Insider tip: Prokofiev's Third Concerto is a genuine audience favourite precisely because of its contrasts — the mischievous woodwind opening versus the driving final-movement fireworks — so if you only know Wang from a Chopin-competition clip, this is a very different, more theatrical side of her playing.
Frequently Asked Questions
A debut, a prize-winner, and Prokofiev's fireworks
Zitong Wang makes her HK Phil debut with Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 on 24 September 2026 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Tickets from HK$220 via URBTIX.