Classical music lovers alert!
Musicus Fest is back with a series of concerts for neophytes and classical music experts alike, as well as for children and families. From 3 November to 7 December, the festival will welcome eminent artists from Poland, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, showcasing outstanding artistry and musicianship.
Musicus Society’s Founder Trey Lee and the Musicus Soloists Hong Kong
Launched in 2013 by Musicus Society, Musicus Fest is an international partnership for world-class musicians to collaborate with Hong Kong’s musicians and young talents. The festival gives Hong Kong artists and students what their counterparts elsewhere have long enjoyed – the chance to elevate themselves to a higher level of artistic excellence through meaningful interaction with renowned musicians from different parts of the world.
Trey Lee
Musicus Society was founded in 2010 by a group of music lovers under the vision of renowned cellist Trey Lee, with a mission to promote cross-cultural and intergenerational collaboration of music internationally and to nurture aspiring young musicians from all social backgrounds in Hong Kong.
Placing a strong emphasis on string players in solo and chamber ensemble configurations, the Society has its own homegrown string ensemble, the Musicus Soloists Hong Kong (MSHK), comprising international prize winners on promising career paths around the world. They are the homegrown talents playing at the Musicus Fest concerts.
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Musicus Fest 2024 – Musicus Soloists Hong Kong – Cello and Ondes Martenot
23 November at 8pm – Hong Kong City Hall
MSHK’s concerts will highlight classical and modern repertoires 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 mesmerising new piece will feature Trey Lee (cello) and Nadia Ratsimandresy (Ondes Martenot) as soloists.
Nadia Ratsimandresy
It will be a unique opportunity to experience the rarely performed Ondes Martenot live, one of the earliest electronic musical instruments, invented in 1928 by French radio telegrapher and cellist Maurice Martenot. With its distinct, tangible tones, this instrument marries perfectly with the cello and the ensemble in ways never heard before.
The Musicus soloists and ensemble will also play Vivaldi’s Concerto for 4 Violins in B minor, as well as Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Concert en sextuor No. 5 and selections from modern masters such as Darius Milhaud and Béla Bartók.
They will also make their French debut at the iconic Salle Gaveau in Paris, also performing Umbra.
Musicus Fest 2024 – Festival Finale: Trey Lee and Sinfonia Varsovia
1 December at 8pm – Hong Kong Cultural Centre
The grand finale concert will feature renowned cellist and Musicus Society Artistic Director Trey Lee, and critically acclaimed Sinfonia Varsovia from Poland.
Founded in 1984, with Yehudi Menuhin as its first guest conductor, Sinfonia Varsovia has worked with the world’s greatest musicians and has won many awards for its 300 recordings.
Sinfonia Varsova
As part of its 40th anniversary celebration in 2024, Sinfonia Varsovia is touring Asia with award-winning German conductor Alexander Liebreich, who will reunite in Hong Kong with Trey Lee to perform works by the Czech master Antonín Dvořák and Polish composer Witold Lutosławski.
Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor was the composer’s favorite and is often regarded as his unofficial tenth symphony. The second work performed will be Lutosławski’s folk-inflected Little Suite, dating from 1951 and one of the most frequently performed Polish works of its day. Closing the concert will be Dvořák’s darkly majestic Symphony No. 7.
Details about all the concerts can be found here: Musicus Fest 2024
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