Celebrated cellist Mischa Maisky will pay his third visit to the Beijing Music Festival on Sunday evening at the Poly Theatre, performing Schumann's "Cello Concerto in A Minor" with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Bramwell Tovey.

In 1999 and 2001, Maisky delighted festival patrons, and he was named "honorary musician of the festival" in 2001.

The Russia-born Maisky won a prize in 1966 at the Tchaikovsky International Competition and commenced studies with Rostropovich at Moscow Conservatory.

In 1974 he studied for several months under Gregor Piatigorsky, thus becoming the great master's last student and the only other person ever to have studied with both Piatigorsky and Rostropovich.

Rostropovich has lauded Maisky as "one of the most outstanding talents of the younger generation of cellists. His playing combines poetry and exquisite delicacy with great temperament and brilliant technique."

After moving to Israel in 1972, Maisky's recordings have enjoyed world-wide critical acclaim and he has been enthusiastically received in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, New York and Tokyo.

The international reputation of the Luxembourg Philharmonic, founded in 1933, was consolidated through numerous concerts, recordings, and radio and television productions in Europe's finest concert halls. In September 2002, British conductor Bramwell Tovey was appointed chief conductor and musical director of the orchestra.

The Beijing concert is part of the orchestra's first tour of Asia, which will also see it perform at Shanghai Grand Theatre on November 4 and some concerts in South Korea.

Tovey has worked with an increasingly prestigious list of orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Tovey conducts a huge range of works across the whole musical spectrum. His strong commitment to new music was demonstrated during his time as a music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in Canada, where he founded the New Music Festival and served as its artistic director for 10 years.

During that time the Festival premiered more than 250 new works by a broad range of international and Canadian composers.

In addition to conducting, Tovey is a composer and an accomplished jazz pianist.

(China Daily November 1, 2003)