Programme

Winner of the prestigious Geneva International Music Competition in 2021, Japanese rising star Michiaki Ueno is one of the most exciting young cellists to watch today, hailed as “a supremely confident, mature artist for whom technical mastery is in the service of musicianship” (Bachtrack). In his Hong Kong début, he will perform Lalo’s rhapsodic Cello Concerto with Hong Kong Sinfonietta, as the orchestra welcomes back Venezuelan conductor Rodolfo Barráez, winner of the 2^nd Hong Kong International Conducting Competition in 2023, for his highly anticipated official début. Currently Assistant Conductor of Los Angeles Philharmonic and Associate Conductor of Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Barráez will also conduct Tchaikovsky’s thrilling Symphony No 4, as well as Rimsky-Korsakov’s sparkling Capriccio Espagnol in an evening of fireworks and enchantment.

Michiaki Ueno (Cello)

“Ethereal passages and explosive climaxes sounded engaging, flexible, and intense under his bow.”
Tribune de Geneve

“The cello was talking. Eloquently, in his own words.”
Asahi Shimbun 

• 1^st Prize & 3 special prizes, Geneva International Music Competition 2021
• 1^st Prize, International Johannes Brahms Competition 2014
• 1^st Prize & special prizes, Romanian International Music Competition 2010
• 1^st Prize, International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians 2009
• Artist-in-Residence, Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel
• Chamber partners include Martha Argerich, Mischa Maisky, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Akiko Suwanai etc

Rodolfo Barráez (Conductor)

“Barraez’s attention to detail and energy were clear to hear and see.”
The Straits Times

• 1^st Prize & Orchestra Prize, Hong Kong International Conducting Competition 2023
• Assistant Conductor, Los Angeles Philharmonic
• Associate Conductor, Singapore Symphony Orchestra
• Associate Conductor, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela
• Conductor-in-Residence, Opera National de Paris (2023-2024)

Featured artists:

Rodolfo Barráez
(Conductor)

Michiaki Ueno
(Cello)