16 conductors shortlisted for 3rd Hong Kong International Conducting Competition
Sixteen young conductors from 12 countries have been selected to take part in the 3rd Hong Kong International Conducting Competition, to be held from 27–31 January 2027 at Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall.
Organised by Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the competition attracted 215 applications from conductors in 38 countries and regions. Following the preliminary selection process, the 16 candidates will travel to Hong Kong for three competitive rounds, conducting Hong Kong Sinfonietta in repertoire ranging from Mozart and Beethoven to Bartók, Stravinsky and a new work by Hong Kong composer Daniel Lo Ting-cheung.
The shortlisted candidates, with ages given as at July 2026, are: Samuel Aguirre (Colombia/Netherlands, 33); Sebastian Almanzar (Colombia, 31); Oliver Cope (UK, 27); Jiaying Ding (China, 31); Roc Fargas (Spain, 30); Nathaniel Griffiths (Australia, 30); Fabian Grünkorn (Germany, 23); Yukuang Jin (China, 26); Mauro Mariani (Italy, 33); Pietro Mazzetti (Italy, 30); Joseph Sieber (Switzerland, 34); Pedro Sotelo (Spain, 26); Ondřej Soukup (Czechia, 31); Giorgos Tsilidis (Greece, 35); Drummado Wijnhamer (Netherlands, 27); and Fanye Yuan (China, 30). The competition is open to conductors aged 35 and under and is designed both as a competitive platform and as an opportunity for emerging conductors to build professional networks in Asia and internationally. All three rounds will be open to the public.
International jury
The jury will be co-chaired by Yip Wing-sie, Music Director Emeritus of Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and Christoph Poppen, the orchestra's Music Director, who is also Principal Conductor of the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Israel Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Marvão International Music Festival.
They will be joined in the competitive rounds by Nicolás Pasquet, Zubin Mehta Chair of Conducting at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía and International Chair in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music; Chien Wen-pin, General and Artistic Director of Taiwan's Weiwuying Center for the Arts; Xenia Groh-Hu, Managing Director of karsten witt musik management; and Youri Son, Director of Artistic Planning at KBS Symphony Orchestra. Hong Kong Sinfonietta musicians James Cuddeford, Concertmaster, and Ambrose Lui, violin, also form part of the jury, with Cuddeford participating in the preliminary selection.
Round One on 27 January will feature Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks Concerto alongside an overture by Mozart or Rossini. Up to eight conductors will progress to the two-day semi-finals, conducting repertoire including symphonies by Brahms, Mendelssohn or Schumann and the final movement of Schumann's Piano Concerto with soloist Rachel Cheung.
A maximum of three finalists will then compete on 31 January. Their programme will include Beethoven's Fidelio Overture, a major orchestral work chosen from Bartók, Richard Strauss and Stravinsky, and the world premiere of Daniel Lo Ting-cheung's Endless Rhythm, commissioned by Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Each finalist will also make a short presentation to the audience.
The First Prize is worth HK$200,000 and includes a concert engagement with Hong Kong Sinfonietta and mentorship with conductor members of the jury. Second and Third Prizes are HK$100,000 and HK$70,000 respectively, with additional Orchestra, Live Audience and Online Audience prizes.