Brilliant Concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Igor
Yuzefovich, Makes His Concerto Début in Two Great Violin and
Orchestra Showpieces with Conductor Jun Märkl
(4&5 January 2013)

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[16 November 2012 – Hong Kong]Charismatic Russian violinist Igor Yuzefovichwon the coveted job of being the Hong Kong Philharmonic (HK Phil)’s Concertmaster and began his tenure in January 2012. Over the course of the year, Igor has led the orchestra in many important concerts including the farewell performances for Maestro Edo de Waart in April and the inaugural concerts for Maestro Jaap van Zweden in September.  
 

Now, the Hong Kong audience will be able to enjoy Igor’s fiery virtuosity and artistic flair at the front of the ensemble as a soloist for the very first time on 4 and 5 January 2013 in two great violin and orchestra showpieces – Chausson’s Poème, which displays the violin’s lyrical and expressive side, and Ravel’s gypsy-inspired Tzigane, full of fire, passion and high-octane energy.  His much-anticipated concerto début with the HK Phil will come under the baton of conductor Jun Märkl, who will also lead the HK Phil in Brahms’s monumental Symphony No.1.
 

Swire Maestro: “Brahms One” will be held on 4&5 January 2013 (Fri & Sat), 8pm in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced: $300, $200, $160, $120 are now available at URBTIX.  Free pre-concert talk will be given on both nights at 7:15pm, also at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. For enquiries, please visit www.hkphil.org or contact 2721 2030.
 

Igor Yuzefovich, violin [full biography]
 

“Concertmaster Igor Yuzefovich excelled in “Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête” (“Conversations of Beauty and the Beast”), his tone refined and elegant in a duet with the harp. The final movement, a walk in “Le Jardin féerique” (“The Fairy Garden”), was a poignant reminder of the ethereal innocence of childhood.”

--- Alan Yu, www.bachtrack.com

Born in Moscow violinist Igor Yuzefovich has been the Hong Kong Philharmonic’s Concertmaster since January 2012. Before that, he was Assistant Concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony. He began his violin studies at the age of five, and was soon accepted into the Gnessin Music School where he studied with Irina Svetlova. In 1990, while on a musical exchange with the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv, Igor Yuzefovich performed on Israel's national television. Since 1991 he has lived in the United States where he studied with Jody Gatwood, Leri Slutsky and Victor Danchenko.

A winner of numerous competitions, Igor Yuzefovich has performed around the world – from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Cairo Opera House in Egypt, and in cities across the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, Russia, Italy, France, Austria, Israel, Jordan and South Africa.

An active chamber musician, Igor Yuzefovich was a prize-winner at the 1996 Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition as a member of the Russia Quartet. In 2004 he co-founded the Monument Piano Trio, which made its début to critical acclaim in Baltimore. Igor Yuzefovich has been invited to lead numerous masterclasses and is in demand as guest concertmaster.

Jun Märkl, conductor [full biography]

"Jun Märkl’s outstanding Debussy series makes every piece sound like one of the most cherishable masterworks in the repertoire. All five previous volumes in this Naxos Debussy series are must-haves."

--- Classic FM, 5 stars, July 2011

Jun Märkl conducts the world’s leading orchestras, including the Cleveland, Philadelphia, NHK Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic and Zürich Tonhalle. He has long been a highly respected interpreter of the core Germanic repertoire from both the symphonic and operatic traditions, and more recently for his refined and idiomatic Debussy, Ravel and Messiaen.

He was Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon between 2005 and 2011, and of the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig until 2012. In recognition of his tenure in Lyon and his hugely successful nine-disc Debussy cycle with the orchestra on Naxos, in 2012 he was honoured by the French Ministry of Culture with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He also toured with the orchestra to Japan and major European halls and festivals including the Salle Pleyel, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, BBC Proms, Bad Kissingen, Rheingau and Lucerne. With MDR he toured to Spain and the Baltics, made regular appearances in the Berlin Konzerthaus and Cologne Philharmonie, and conducted Schumann’s rarely-heard opera Genoveva at the Rotterdam Opera Festival.

Märkl’s busy European schedule as guest conductor is complemented by regular relationships with the leading North American orchestras where he returns for several weeks every season. He is also a frequent guest in Japan; alongside his regular visits to the NHK Symphony Orchestra, he appears at the Pacific Music Festival Sapporo and with the Mito Chamber Orchestra, and teaches at the Kunitachi Music Conservatoire.

For many years Märkl has conducted the state operas of Vienna, Munich and Semperoper Dresden, and was until 2006 Permanent Conductor of the Bavarian State Opera. He made his Royal Opera House, London, début with Götterdämmerung in 1996 and at the Metropolitan Opera with Il Trovatore in 1998, has conducted complete Ring Cycles at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the New National Theatre Tokyo, and toured to Japan in 2007 with the Semperoper Dresden (Tannhäuser). In 2014 he conducts Fidelio at the Hamburg State Opera.

Märkl has recorded Mahler and the complete Schumann symphonies live with the NHK Symphony for EXTON Records and Dvořák on Telarc with the Indianapolis Symphony. Whilst in Lyon he made live recordings for Altus of Strauss, Beethoven and Mahler to complement his Naxos discs of Debussy, Messiaen and Hosokawa. With MDR Symphony he recorded Brahms symphonies (live on Altus) and Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Lobgesäng for Naxos.

Swire Maestro: Brahms One
4&5 | 1 | 2013
FRI & SAT 8PM
HK Cultural Centre Concert Hall
HK$300 $200 $160 $120
Available at URBTIX now

Click the thumbnail to download photos

Ticketing Information
Credit Card Booking
(852) 2111 5999
Online Booking
www.urbtix.hk

For programme enquiry, please call HK Phil at
(852) 2721 2030

HONG KONG PHILHARMONIC
Music Director: Jaap van Zweden

The Hong Kong Philharmonic is a vital part of Hong Kong’s cultural life, as the city’s largest and busiest musical organisation. In 2013/14 the HK Phil will celebrate its 40th professional season, but its roots are well over a century old. The HK Phil has now evolved to become an orchestral powerhouse in the region, and an acclaimed cultural centrepiece of Asia’s World City.

The HK Phil is formed on the belief that a great city deserves a great orchestra. Annually it presents over 150 concerts for 200,000 music lovers. Featuring an enviable roster of international and local artists, with many concerts presented free, among them the annual Swire Symphony Under The Stars. Through its acclaimed education programme, over 40,000 young people learned about orchestral music last year.

The HK Phil’s members come from every corner of the globe, joining its strong core of Hong Kong musicians. In September 2012, Jaap van Zweden became the orchestra’s Music Director. Future years will see an ambitious series of new projects, with major international tours, renewed local partnerships, and large-scale concert events. The HK Phil has recently commenced a multi-CD recording project for Naxos, featuring works by Chinese composers.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
SWIRE is the Principal Patron of the Hong Kong Philharmonic
The Hong Kong Philharmonic is a Venue Partner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre

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