5 conductors who could become Hong Kong Philharmonic music director when Jaap van Zweden ends 12 years in the post

A new music director will be picking up the baton for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in a matter of months, but who it will be remains a mystery. The orchestra, which is celebrating its golden jubilee, remains tight-lipped, saying only that selection is an ongoing process and that the announcement will not take place until the launch of its 2024-25 season, in the middle of this year. Back in 2012, when Jaap van Zweden was appointed, the news was released in January, well ahead of the traditional September season opening. Naturally, rumours have been circulating. So here are the five names we have come across – an all-male cast, sadly – although the orchestra will neither confirm nor deny those on the list. 1 Vasily Petrenko The 47-year-old was born in St Petersburg, Russia, but has been living in Britain for so long he was officially made an honorary Scouser – as natives of Liverpool are known – by the mayor of Liverpool in 2009. He left the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 2021 to become music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. 60 years ago these famous siblings’ concert changed a conductor’s life Like many in-demand conductors, he has commitments with a number of ensembles: as music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, chief conductor of the European Union Youth Orchestra, conductor laureate of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and associate conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León. Can he fit Hong Kong in? Well, he has spent a bit of time in the city recently. He conducted two programmes with the HK Phil in January 2023, including an all-Russian concert that the South China Morning Post’s reviewer described as “breathtaking”. And he was here again in December for two more programmes. 2 Paavo Järvi The 62-year-old Estonian-American conductor comes from a family of distinguished musicians. Järvi is highly sought after as a guest conductor by leading orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He is also chief conductor of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in Switzerland, artistic director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and founder and artistic director of the Estonian Festival Orchestra. Our reviewer described him as “precise and poised” when he conducted the HK Phil in April 2023. 3 Tarmo Peltokoski Peltokoski was a 14-year-old prodigy when he was snapped up as a student by the legendary Jorma Panula – the man who single-handedly turned Finland into a classical music conducting powerhouse. And the Filipino-Finnish conductor is still only 23, which means that if he becomes the music director of HK Phil, it would not only make him the youngest chief conductor of the orchestra but one of the youngest people to hold such a post anywhere. ‘I can’t stop these tears’: Chilean-Italian conductor’s musical journey It is certainly not unheard of for an orchestra to pick someone still in their 20s. Music news site Slipped Disc listed 17, including some of the top names in the industry, such as Simon Rattle, who, in 1980, led the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at the age of 25. In 2022, Peltokoski became principal guest conductor of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen as well as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. And having conducted HK Phil’s 2022/23 season finale programme in June 2023, he will be back in July for this season’s finale with a meaty programme of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No 2 (the soloist is Seong-jin Cho) and Mahler’s Symphony No 5. 4 Jukka-Pekka Saraste Another Finn on the list, the 67- year-old Saraste, who is known for his reserved and analytical style, is also a mentee of Panula (of course!) at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He was the chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne, Germany, from 2010 to 2019. Before that Saraste was music director and chief conductor of Oslo Philharmonic in Norway from 2006 to 2013. He started work as the chief conductor and artistic director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in his native Finland last summer. Saraste’s debut with the HK Phil will take place on April 19 and 20. 5 Andrés Orozco-Estrada Born in Colombia in 1977, Orozco-Estrada began as a violinist and took to conducting after he began taking lessons at the age of 15. He moved to Vienna in 1997, to study at the University of Music and Performing Arts, and has been living in the Austrian capital ever since. In 2022, he was made professor of conducting at his alma mater. He has an impressive résumé, having been principal conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and chief conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. But the way he walked out of the latter in April 2022, right in the middle of the season, certainly raised a few eyebrows. His debut with the HK Phil was in December 2022.