News - 2008 Hong Kong Arts Festival

New York Philharmonic - Lorin Maazel

Over three festival evenings Maazel and Associate Conductor, Zhang Xian will lead the New York Philharmonic in renditions of Elgar, Strauss, Barber, Dvořák, Mendelssohn and Brahms. Young virtuoso Alisa Weilerstein will perform Elgar's lamenting cello concerto, and two principal players, oboist Wang Liang and concertmaster Glenn Dicterow, will perform the Strauss and Barber concertos. Maazel will conclude each evening with a symphony: Dvořák's Seventh, Mendelssohn's Fourth and Brahms' Fourth.

London Philharmonic - Vladimir Jurowski

The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) returns to the Hong Kong stage with its newly appointed Principal Conductor, Vladimir Jurowski. Heralded as a 'conductor on the rise', and the most "creative force" in London (Financial Times), Jurowski's performances never fail to astound. Appointed music director of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera at the age of 28, and voted one of the 'world's top young conductors' by BBC Music Magazine in 2004, he received the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award in 2006.

Jurowski is a revitalising force in the long and celebrated history of the LPO, which debuted under Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932. Since then a long line of distinguished maestros – Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur – have added to the orchestra's musical versatility and artistic excellence. With a prodigious number of recordings to its name, it is widely regarded as one of the world's finest orchestras.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra will be joined by two notable soloists; Nikolaj Znaider, one of the most sought-after violinists – noted for his interpretation of Brahms; and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, the charismatic and versatile pianist, who so eloquently captures the poetic, sparkle of Ravel's concerto. Jurowski will lead the LPO through two evenings of great symphonies – Tchaikovsky's Sixth and Prokofiev's Fifth – in the finale of the 2008 Hong Kong Arts Festival.