We are thrilled to have ING’s first-ever virtual and global ING New Year's Concert to be held on Saturday 9 January 2021.

Amsterdam’s world-famous Concertgebouworkest will perform in an online event exclusively for ING staff.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused music and theatre venues to get creative about how they reach their audiences. The 120-member orchestra will be seated in a corona-proof formation and the concert will be livestreamed to ING colleagues around the world.

The programme consists of the in D minor, Op. 47 by and the Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 by , the last of his symphonies. The conductor is Myung-Whun Chung and the violin soloist is Liviu Prunaru.

ING Steven van Rijswijk will kick off the concert with a short new year’s message, and Belgian television host Thomas Vanderveken will give some insight into the music to be played. Both will be in English.

The Concertgebouworkest has been playing symphonic music at the highest level since 1888, with 120 top musicians from over 20 different countries. ING has been a sponsor for over 30 years. Programme

Below you will find the full programme of the ING New Year's Concert, which will be broadcasted live on Saturday 9 January.

ING New Year's Concert - Livestream

7:45 - 8 pm Connect to the livestream, get a drink and settle down 8 pm Welcome and opening by Steven van Rijswijk followed by an introduction of the performance by Thomas Vanderveken 8:15 pm Live connection with the Concertgebouw. The Concertgebouworkest and soloist Liviu Prunary, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung play:

Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 by Jean Sibelius

Allegro moderato Adagio di molto Allegro ma non tanto

Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 by Johannes Brahms

Allegro non troppo Andante moderato Allegro giocoso Allegro energico e passionato

9:30 pm Stay connected for the afterparty!!

The perfect match

While all Brahms’s four symphonies are masterpieces, the Fourth is considered to be the high point of his œuvre. The first and last movements contain so many ideas that they could almost be characterised as free-standing symphonies in their own right. There are many nods to Beethoven, while the finale is an ode to Bach. Myung- whun Chung has demonstrated many times his close ties with the German Romantic repertoire at the helm of the Concertgebouworkest.

Sibelius’s Violin Concerto

A soloist from the orchestra’s own ranks is taking to the stage to perform Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto: concertmaster Liviu Prunaru. His velvety touch is perfect for Sibelius’s concerto, which is less about technical acrobatics than it is about poetry. The violin seems to drift through the orchestral landscape musing and singing. The sometimes improvisatory style of the violin part has earned the work a special place in the violin repertoire.

Conductor – Myung-Whun Chung

Born in 1953, the South Korean conductor Myung-Whun Chung embarked on a musical career as a pianist. He made his debut at the age of seven with the Philharmonic Orchestra. Together with his sisters, violinist Kyung-Wha Chung and cellist Myung-Wha Chung, he formed the Chung Trio.

Chung studied conducting at the Mannes School of Music and the in New York, going on to serve as ’s assistant with the Philharmonic Orchestra.

After various permanent and guest conductorships with many leading European orchestras, Chung has become increasingly involved in the musical world of the Far East, having co-founded the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he also serves as chief conductor. He has held the posts of special artistic adviser of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra since 2001 and of art director and principal conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra since 2006.

Chung was appointed the very first principal guest conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden in the 2012–13 season. Since his debut with the Concertgebouworkest in 1984 he has been invited back on a regular basis.

Soloist - Liviu Prunaru iviu Prunaru studied with Alberto Lysy at the Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland and with Dorothy DeLay in New York. He was appointed principal violinist of the Concertgebouworkest in September 2006. Between 2010 and 2012 he was also Artistic Director of the Menuhin Music Academy.

In 1993, he won the Prix International Eugène Ysaÿe, the Audience Prize and second prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition. Winning the Juilliard Mendelssohn Competition in 1999 led to his New York solo debut at Lincoln Center with the Juilliard Symphony. Prunaru has since given solo performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he has given recitals throughout the world.

Liviu Prunaru made his first solo appearance with the Concertgebouworkest in May 2008 in a performance of Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto No. 3. He returned as a soloist in the Dvořák Violin Concerto in December 2012 and in Piazzolla's Four Seasons of in June 2014.

Prunaru plays the Stradivarius 'Paschoud' from 1694, owned by the Stichting Instituut Gak. This foundation (stichting) gave the violin on loan to Stichting Concertgebouworkest.