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Protégés of legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin
Alexander Sitkovetsky and James Cuddeford
lead exquisite string programme in tribute to the master

For immediate release
7 Jan 2025

Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999) – an unsurpassable legend in the violin world – was an inspirational violinist and pedagogue active in the 20th century. At seven years old, he made his début with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and as a teenager he was already known as one of the finest violinists of the time, having performed in the première recording of Elgar’s Violin Concerto at the age of 16 with the composer himself conducting.

A true believer in the healing and transcendent powers of music, Menuhin was the first Jew to perform in Germany after World War II. He also poured his heart and soul into nurturing the next generation of musicians, founding the renowned Yehudi Menuhin School in the UK in 1963, and establishing the prestigious Menuhin Competition for Young Violinists in 1983, past winners of which include some of the brightest stars on the international stage today such as Julia Fischer, Ray Chen, Ning Feng etc.

In tribute to Menuhin’s monumental influence and legacy, distinguished violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky and Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s Concertmaster James Cuddeford – both former students of Menuhin – will join hands to present a concert of four fantastic works for strings, all connected to the great master. From Bach’s well-loved Concerto for Two Violins in D minor – which Sitkovetsky and Cuddeford have both performed with Menuhin before – to the exquisite Serenade for Strings and Divertimento composed respectively by Elgar and Bartók – composers with whom Menuhin had close relations – the programme also highlights the Hong Kong première of Panufnik’s Violin Concerto, which Sitkovetsky was due to perform under Menuhin’s baton before the master’s untimely passing. The concert promises to be a beautiful celebration of Menuhin’s legacy and the enchantment of some of the best string music ever written!

A Homage to the Legendary Yehudi Menuhin will take place on 18 Jan (Sat) at 8pm at Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall; tickets are on sale at URBTIX.

Hong Kong Sinfonietta

A Homage to the Legendary Yehudi Menuhin

18 Jan 2025 (Saturday) | 8pm
Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall
$480, $340, $200

Violin/Director: Alexander Sitkovetsky
Violin: James Cuddeford

Programme
Elgar – Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op 20

Andrzej Panufnik – Violin Concerto (Hong Kong première)
Solo: Alexander Sitkovetsky

Bach – Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV1043
Solo: Alexander Sitkovetsky, James Cuddeford

Bartók – Divertimento

Half-price tickets available for full-time students, senior citizens, people with disabilities and their minder, and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients
10% discount for group bookings of 4 or more standard tickets
Suitable for 6 years old or above
Tickets at URBTIX
Tickets online at POPTICKET (no handling fee)

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Alexander Sitkovetsky Violin/Director

Artistic Director of the renowned NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra in Wrocław, Poland from the 2023/2024 season, Alexander Sitkovetsky was born in Moscow into a family with a well-established musical tradition. He made his concerto début at the age of eight, and in the same year moved to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School where he is now an Associate Artist. Menuhin was his inspiration throughout his school years, and they performed together on several occasions.

Following a three-year residency at the Lincoln Center in New York through the prestigious Bowers Program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS), Sitkovetsky received the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award in 2016, and now retains a position on the CMS artist roster, making several visits annually to perform at the Center. Also an alumnus of the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Kronberg Academy, Germany, his outstanding talents as soloist, orchestra director and chamber musician have attracted accolades and many awards, including the BBC Music Magazine award for Chamber Music in 2022 with the Sitkovetsky Trio – of which he is a founding member – and 1st Prize at the 2011 Trio di Trieste International Chamber Music Competition alongside pianist Wu Qian.

As a soloist, Sitkovetsky is regularly invited to perform with orchestras touring the UK, in recent years including the Brussels Philharmonic, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra and St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. Key concerto performances include appearances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, The Hallé, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bolivia, as well as with Gábor Takács-Nagy at Schloss Elmau as part of the Verbier Festival.

Sitkovetsky is much in demand as a director and has worked with Australian Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Players, Camerata Zürich, Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic and Romanian Sinfonietta. As a chamber musician, Sitkovetsky has performed at the Storioni Festival in the Netherlands, Stavanger Festival, Music for Galway and Schubertiade Festival in Austria.

Highlights in recent seasons include appearing as soloist with the Brno Philharmonic, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and English Symphony Orchestra; as director with Camerata Salzburg, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Detmold Chamber Orchestra; and in chamber music performances with the Sitkovetsky Trio, Julia Fischer Quartet where he is a permanent member, and as a duo with pianist Wu Qian.

Sitkovetsky’s recordings have won great critical acclaim, notably his 2018 Chandos recording of Philip Sawyers’ Violin Concerto with the English Symphony Orchestra, and a CPO recording of Andrzej Panufnik’s Violin Concerto with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin to commemorate the composer’s 100th birthday, which won the ICMA Special Achievement Award.

Sitkovetsky plays the 1679 “Parera” Antonio Stradivari violin, kindly loaned to him through the Beare’s International Violin Society by a generous sponsor.

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James Cuddeford Violin

Currently Concertmaster of Hong Kong Sinfonietta, James Cuddeford is one of Australia’s most versatile musicians and has performed extensively around the world as both soloist and chamber musician. After commencing his musical studies at age seven, he won a full scholarship at age 12 to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England. He continued his studies in Violin Performance at the Royal Northern College of Music and Composition at the University of Manchester. His principal teachers were Yehudi Menuhin in violin, and Karlheinz Stockhausen and György Kurtág in composition. He has won prizes in a series of important competitions including the First Prize at the 1996 Charles Hennen International Competition in Holland.

Cuddeford has frequently appeared at major international festivals in many of the world’s most prestigious halls. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with artists such as John Lill, Charles Rosen, Stephen Kovacevich, Cristina Ortiz, Michael Collins, Heinz Holliger, Yehudi Menuhin, Bruno Giuranna, Pieter Wispelwey and Michel Dalberto. He has performed concertos with orchestras including the Camerata Lysy Switzerland, BBC Scottish National, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Jena Philharmonic Germany, and the Queensland, Adelaide and Tasmanian symphony orchestras.

As a highly active and renowned interpreter of contemporary music, Cuddeford has given numerous world premières. He has worked with many of the most important composers of our time, including Penderecki, Xenakis, Birtwistle, Smalley and Dutilleux. At age 15, he was the youngest finalist in the BBC Young Composer of the Year, and the following year the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra commissioned and premiered his first major orchestral work. Cuddeford’s compositions have also been performed, recorded and broadcast in Europe, North America and Asia by groups such as the Nash Ensemble, Australian String Quartet, Ensemble Offspring, Kammer Ensemble and Psappha Ensemble. His music is represented by the Australian Music Centre.

Cuddeford joined the internationally acclaimed Australian String Quartet in 1998 and has directed from the violin many orchestras in Australia, Japan and Europe. He lectured in violin at both the Elder Conservatorium and the Australian Institute of Music, and has given masterclasses at many major institutions around the world. He has recorded for ABC Classics, Tall Poppies, Melba Recordings and Toccata Classics, and plays on a violin made by Nicolò Gagliano in 1769.

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