Celebrated violinist Siqing Lu returns for the Hotchkiss Philharmonic season-opening concert on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in Katherine M. Elfers Hall, Esther Eastman Music Center. 

Lu will perform the all-time favorite Violin Concerto in D Major by Tchaikovsky. The exciting season opening program will also feature Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 conducted by Philharmonic Artistic Director Fabio Witkowski.

This concert is free and open to the public; no ticket reservations are necessary. Seating is first-come, first-served. 

Siqing Lu, Violin

One of the leading figures in classical music today, violinist Siqing Lu is the president of the Yehudi Menuhin School Qingdao, artistic director of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) May Festival in Beijing, and lifetime artistic ambassador of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia.

Lu is the first Asian violinist to win the gold medal at the prestigious International Paganini Violin Competition in Italy. His bperformances have graced iconic venues worldwide, such as the Musikverein in Vienna, Lincoln Center in New York, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Maison Symphonique and Place des Arts in Montreal, Barbican Hall and the Royal Opera House in London, Theatre Des Champs Elysees and Louis XIV Opera House at the Palace of Versailles in Paris, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Hamer Hall at the Arts Centre in Melbourne, the Esplanade in Singapore, Seoul Arts Center, the Emirates Palace Auditorium in Abu Dhabi and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA)in Beijing.

Hailed by Strad as “an outstanding talent,” Lu has captivated audiences in more than 40 countries and regions, performing with major orchestras and leading conductors, while participating in the most esteemed festivals. He also regularly performs with the China Trio, which he founded in 2011. Equally happy performing for billions of viewers at China National TV’s Lunar Year Gala Show or just for a few hundred local residents in a remote village, he is a master of communicating through music.

Lu's passion for education and philanthropy led the founding of the Lu Siqing Shenzhen Futian International Strings Festival in 2016, and the festival quickly established itself as a world-class music event and has bloomed into a vibrant cultural hallmark of Shenzhen. He also regularly serves as a juror for prestigious competitions such as the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition and the Shanghai Issac Stern International Violin Competition.

He has released more than two dozen albums for labels such as Philips, Naxos, Marco Polo, BIS and NCPA Classics. Acclaimed for his rendition of the “Butterfly Lovers” Violin Concerto, Lu's five recordings of the concerto have sold millions of copies worldwide. His 2018 recording of “Beauty of the Violin”, consisting of the Mendelssohn, Bruch and Tan Dun's Violin Concertos with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, was released globally by Australia’s ABC Classics to critical acclaim, and soon became the number one CD album on Australia’s top 20 classical music album chart.

Born in Qingdao, China, in 1969, Lu began studying violin at age 4. He was admitted to the Central Conservatory of Music at age 8, becoming the youngest student in the school’s history under the tutelage of Professor Wang Zhenshan. At age 11, he was selected by violin legend Yehudi Menuhin to study at his elite music school, the Yehudi Menuhin School in the UK. Later, he pursued advanced studies at Juilliard School in New York, where he studied with world-renowned educators Dorothy Delay and Hyo Kang. In addition to the first prize of the Paganini Competition, Siqing was a prize winner in numerous other international competitions, including the Beijing International Youth Violin Competition and the Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition.

Lu is the recipient of multiple honorary certificates from the U.S. House of Representatives, the California State Senate, and the California State Assembly. He was also awarded the "Outstanding Asian Artistic Achievement Award" from New Jersey and received the Mont Blanc Outstanding Artist Award. He was recognized as one of "100 Young Figures Influencing 21st-Century China" by China Youth magazine and held the title of Cultural Ambassador for Audi’s "Elite Ambassadors" program for many years. Sept. 16, 2006, was declared "Siqing Lu Day" in Millbrae, CA.

Siqing plays on the 1734 ex "Ricci" Guarneri del Gesu violin, made by the famous Italian luthier Giuseppe Guarneri.

Fabio Witkowski, Conductor

Fabio Witkowski is the artistic director and founder of The Hotchkiss Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the holder of the Joanne Sohrweide Music Teaching Chair and is the head of the Visual and Performing Arts Department at Hotchkiss. Witkowski has appeared with the São Bernardo Philharmonic, Orchestra di Camera di Firenze, Santo André Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Denver Philharmonic, and Orchestra Toscana Classica, among others.

As a pianist and chamber musician, he has a busy concert schedule in Europe, Asia, Brazil, and the USA. He has collaborated with the Fine Arts Quartet, Guarneri String Quartet, Emerson String Quartet, and Amerigo Trio. He also performs regularly with his wife, pianist Gisele Witkowski, as the Witkowski Piano Duo. He is the director of the Hotchkiss Summer Piano Portals and the Hotchkiss Summer Music Festival in Italy. He is a frequent guest performer and teacher in several music festivals and competitions, including the Wintergreen Performing Arts Festival, the Londrina, Ourinhos, and Belém Music Festivals in Brazil, the Maria Herrero Competition, Granada Music Festival, and Spanish Composers International Piano Competition in Spain, the MozArte International Piano Competition in Aachen and Villa Musica and Mendelssohn Festivals in Germany.

The Hotchkiss Philharmonic 

The Hotchkiss Philharmonic Orchestra was established in 2018 through the generosity of Barbara Walsh Hostetter '77 and her husband, Amos. The orchestra combines a group of outstanding professional musicians with talented Hotchkiss music students, giving those students the unique opportunity to work and perform alongside world-class artists. Offering free admission to all of its concerts, the orchestra invites the community to Katherine M. Elfers Hall for a season of exciting symphonic music.