Musicus Fest 2024

Musicus Society announces a series of seven great programs over six weekends in November and December. From 3 November to 7 December 2024, Musicus Fest will welcome eminent artists from Poland, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. This year’s festival will be a showcase of outstanding artistry and musicianship from local and international performers. The festival is also brought overseas, to France, with two concerts presented by the Salle Gaveau, the celebrated Paris concert hall.

The Society is honored to welcome Sinfonia Varsovia to the Festival Finale on 1 December. The world-renowned orchestra counts the late composer Krzysztof Penderecki in its lineage of music directors. Under the baton of OPUS KLASSIK Award-winning conductor Alexander Liebreich, the orchestra will perform sweeping masterpieces by Dvořák and Lutosławski, with Trey Lee performing the solo part in Dvořák’s enthralling Cello Concerto.

Musicus Soloists Hong Kong (MSHK) is the Society’s homegrown string ensemble, comprising international prizewinners on promising career paths around the world. MSHK’s concert at the Salle Gaveau in Paris on 16 November will highlight French composers and include the exciting world premiere of Umbra, a double concerto specially commissioned from composer Seung-Won Oh, with funding from the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. This mesmerizing new piece features Trey Lee (cello) and Nadia Ratsimandresy (Ondes Martenot) as soloists. MSHK will then perform the same program in Hong Kong on 23 November, giving the Asian premiere of Umbra.

Pianist and winner of the 2022 Young Artist Audition Zach Cheong Hoi-leong will perform a solo recital in the Next Generation Virtuosi concert on 30 November. The emerging virtuoso has selected some of his favorite pieces to demonstrate his talent and polished skills.

The re-run of Marco Polo’s Musical Encounter of East and West will take place on 3 November. The family- friendly performance will feature stellar local musicians and elements of Italian commedia dell’arte to introduce Chinese and Western musical instruments. It is written and performed by Ursula Volkmann and Maddalena Recino, who are joined on stage by an ensemble led by Marc Ngan and musicians including Colleen Lee, Mavis Lam and Aaron Chan.

The Jockey Club Musicus Heritage Stories Concerts will be presented in University Hall of the University of Hong Kong, a declared historical monument, on 7 December.