City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong
Robert Ames guest conductor
“Storytelling, emotion and expression…..a spinetingling performance”
BROADWAYWORLD.COM
3 June 2026 (Wed)
Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, 8:00pm
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 6 May 2026 – On 3 June 2026 at Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, 8:00pm, City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) presents the Hong Kong premiere of Anoushka Shankar – Chapters under the baton of Robert Ames. Carrying forward the legacy of her father, Ravi Shankar, the multi-Grammy-nominated sitar virtuoso and composer continues to champion bold new directions for Indian music in the classical world. Chapters, a joint commission between the BBC Proms, De Singel and City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong is derived from Anoushka Shankar’s trilogy of albums entitled “Forever, For Now”, “How Dark It Is Before Dawn” and “We Return to Light” and maps her personal, artistic and geographical journeys. In July 2025, Chapters culminated in a sonically transformative orchestral programme for sitar and orchestra with a premiere at the BBC Proms by Anoushka Shankar and the London Contemporary Orchestra under the baton of Robert Ames. In collaboration with arranger Robert Ames, the work successfully combines Shankar’s signature blend of classical Indian sitar with the evocative colours of a modern orchestra.
A seven-time Grammy nominee, Anoushka Shankar is widely recognized as “a visionary artist who redefines the boundaries of the sitar for the 21st century.” Inspired by her father, the legendary Ravi Shankar, her compositions blend the intricacies of Indian classical music with western orchestral traditions. In addition to her acclaimed solo albums and collaborative projects, Anoushka Shankar has composed extensively for film, dance and orchestral ensembles, forging a path that bridges tradition and innovation.
Tickets for Anoushka Shankar – Chapters are available from all URBTIX outlets and are priced at $600, $480, $350 and $220 with 50% off for full-time students, senior citizens, Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients, people with disabilities and their accompanying minder. For ticketing enquiries and customer service call 3166 1100; for telephone bookings call 3166 1288; for internet bookings visit www.urbtix.hk; for programme enquiries call 2864 2156 or email info@ccohk.com.
Anoushka Shankar sitar/composer
Grammy-nominated musician and composer, Anoushka Shankar is a masterful sitarist and a prolific recording artist with a ground-breaking international career. She had trod new paths in a wide range of musical genres including world, classical, electronic and jazz music. At the age of eighteen she was the youngest and first female recipient of a British House of Commons Shield, the first Indian woman to receive eleven nominations, perform and serve as a presenter at the Grammy® Awards and the first Indian woman to receive an Ivor Novello Awards nomination for film composition for her soundtrack to A Suitable Boy. She is also an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, one of the first five female composers to be featured in the UK’s A-level music syllabus and the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of Oxford. From the age of nine, she studied the sitar and Indian classical music with her father, Pandit Ravi Shankar, learning by ear not only ancient musical traditions passed on through generations but also the spirit of improvisation for which her father was so renowned. Her love for musical connections across borders has led to numerous collaborations with a diverse range of international artists including Herbie Hancock, her half-sister Norah Jones, Patti Smith, Sting, Jacob Collier, Joshua Bell, Arooj Aftab, Nils Frahm, M.I.A, Rodrigo y Gabriela and His Holiness The Dalai Lama. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Metropole Orkest, London Contemporary Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. Her touring career has taken her to venerable concert halls, legendary jazz cafes and major festival stages to audiences of 40,000 people. Anoushka Shankar is currently the creative director of the Brighton Festival. In 2025 she marked her 30 years of stage performances with the release of We return to Light, the third chapter of her trilogy of mini albums. In the same year she performed at the BBC Proms with the London Contemporary Orchestra.
Robert Ames guest conductor
Robert Ames is a conductor, composer, curator and the co-founder of the London Contemporary Orchestra. Over the past 15 years, he has pioneered a genre-fluid approach to collaboration, blurring the lines between electronic production and the classical tradition in a diverse and exciting career. His musical collaborations include Radiohead, Little Simz and The National, Taylor Swift, Frank Ocean, Self Esteem, Anoushka Shankar, Philip Glass, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Mica Levi, Jonny Greenwood and Steve Reich. He has recorded two solo albums and has had extensive soundtrack experience from indie films to mainstream Oscar winners. Robert Ames’ guest conducting engagements include the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Metropole Orkest, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has made appearances at the BBC Proms, the Royal Festival Hall, the Barbican Centre, The Concertgebouw and the Sydney Opera House.
