Hotchkiss Philharmonic returns Nov. 2

The Hotchkiss School will kick off its 2024-2025 Philharmonic season on Saturday, Nov. 2, with a special performance headlined by internationally acclaimed violinist Siqing Lu. The concert will start at 7 p.m. and will run till 8:30 p.m. in the Katherine M. Elfers Hall.

The Hotchkiss Philharmonic was established in 2018 by Barbara Walsh Hostetter (class of ‘77) and Amos Hostetter to provide gifted young musicians with an opportunity to perform alongside successful professionals. The concerts remain free and open to all community members—no registration required.

The November Philharmonic will be marked by a solo from influential Chinese violinist Siqing Lu. With over five decades of experience, Lu made history in 1987 as the first Asian violinist to win the prestigious International Paganini Violin Competition. He has since served as the first Chinese soloist-in-residence with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2019-2020 and has been a judge for numerous prestigious musical competitions. He is currently the Artistic Director of both the National Center for the Performing Arts May Festival in Beijing and the Siqing Lu Shenzhen Futian International String Festival.

At Hotchkiss, Lu will perform Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 – one of the most popular violin concertos in solo violin repertoire.

Complementing Lu’s performance, Fabio Wirkowski, a head of the Hotchkiss visual and performing arts department and a founder of The Hotchkiss Philharmonic Orchestra, will conduct Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and Mascagni’s Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana, an Italian one act opera.

Hotchkiss student musicians, 22 in total, who are a part of the orchestra will play the two pieces along with local musical professionals and teachers.

The next performance as a part of the Philharmonic season will be orchestrated on April 3, 2025. The upcoming concert on Nov. 2 will mark the beginning of a season rich in musical excellence and inspiring performances at Hotchkiss.