Santa Cecilia Tour
Asia 2025
From November 20 to December 5, 2025, the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Daniel Harding, will embark on a new Asian tour, performing in Hong Kong, Taichung, Taipei, Shanghai, Beijing, and Seoul, for a total of ten concerts.
The tour marks the Orchestra’s long-awaited return to East Asia, after a seven-year absence since its last tour in the region, then led by Antonio Pappano.
Sharing the stage with the conductor and the Orchestra will be two young and acclaimed pianists: Beatrice Rana, now a regular presence at the world’s leading festivals and concert halls, and the very young Yunchan Lim, a rising star in the piano world. A native of South Korea, in 2022 he won the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at just 18 years old, becoming the youngest winner in the competition’s history. His performance has garnered over 18 million views on YouTube—an unprecedented achievement.
Santa Cecilia’s return to Asia is not only an opportunity for international audiences to experience the Orchestra live, but also a significant milestone in the history of the Accademia and its tours. After seven years away from East Asia, this journey marks an important return to a region that has played a central role in the Orchestra’s touring history, ever since the Accademia’s first major Asian tour in the 1992–1993 season, which included concerts in Tokyo and other cities.
The 2025 tour program will feature five different setlists, designed to showcase the Orchestra’s wide-ranging repertoire and the versatility of its soloists. Opera overtures (Verdi, Rossini, Wagner), great late-Romantic symphonies (Brahms, Rachmaninov), and concert pieces of extraordinary vitality—such as Ravel’s Concerto in G—will be at the heart of the ten performances.
The final concert will feature a performance of Act I of Wagner’s Die Walküre, an opera that Harding conducted in October for the opening of the new season. Joining him on stage will be soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä (Sieglinde), tenor Klaus Florian Vogt (Siegmund), and bass Kwangchul Youn (Hunding).
Follow the tour on our social media channels with the hashtag #santaceciliatour.
Orchestra
of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
conductor Daniel Harding
piano Yunchan Lim*, Beatrice Rana**, Aristo Sham***
soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä
tenor Klaus Florian Vogt
bass Kwangchul Youn
November 20 Hong Kong*** Hong Kong Cultural Centre (A)
November 21 Hong Kong Hong Kong Cultural Centre (B)
November 23 Taichung* National Theatre (C)
November 25 Taipei* Performing Arts Center (D)
November 27 Shanghai** Jaguar Symphony Hall (A)
November 29 Beijing** NCPA (A)
November 30 Beijing** NCPA (E)
December 3, 4, 5 Seoul* Seoul Arts Center (F, A, F)
(A)
Verdi I Vespri Siciliani: Overture
Ravel Concerto in G
Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2
(B)
Verdi I Vespri Siciliani: Overture
Rossini Guillaume Tell: Overture
Verdi La forza del destino: Overture
Wagner Die Walküre: Act I
(C)
Rossini Guillaume Tell: Overture
Ravel Concerto in G
Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2
(D)
Verdi I Vespri Siciliani: Overture
Ravel Concerto in G
Brahms Symphony No. 2
(E)
Rossini Guillaume Tell: Overture
Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Brahms Symphony No. 2
(F)
Verdi La forza del destino: Overture
Ravel Concerto in G
Brahms Symphony No. 2