George Lomdaridze 林達僑

George Lomdaridze has been Principal Bass of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since May 2011. George joined the HK Phil in 1999 and after 2 years in the US where he played regularly with the Chicago Symphony and the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans, he returned to the HK Phil in 2002.

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia to a family of classical musicians, George began his musical training studying piano and later double bass. He also studied trumpet and eventually composition, following in the footsteps of his father, the composer Elizbar Lomdaridze. George won the National String competition for Young Artists in Tbilisi at the age of 14. At 16, George was appointed by Maestro Jansug Kahidze to be the Assistant Principal Bass of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Orchestra. After his studies of bass and composition at the Tbilisi Conservatory, George went on to study bass with Professor Lev Rakov at the Moscow Conservatory. While in Moscow, he played as a member of the Moscow Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra. In 1995 George won the third prize in the first Sergey Koussevitsky International Double Bass Competition in Moscow.

Upon graduation from Moscow, George was invited by London Symphony Orchestra Principal Bass Thomas Martin to study on full scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music in London. From London, George moved to Chicago where he studied with Stephen Lester of the Chicago Symphony. George performed under many of the world’s renowned conductors as principal bass of the Chicago Civic Orchestra and a regular substitute with the Chicago Symphony. George has played with the Pharos Soloists led by Levon Chilingirian in Cyprus, London and Prague. When not playing bass George enjoys exploring Hong Kong with his wife Damara, violist, and their son Tommy and daughter Natia. He plays a contemporary Bass made in 1997 by Albert Jakstadt.

林達僑自2011年5月起擔任香港管弦樂團首席低音大提琴。1999年，林達僑加入「港樂」，之後在美國居住兩年，定期參與芝加哥交響樂團和新奧爾良的路易斯安那愛樂樂團的演出，後於2002年重返「港樂」。

林達僑生於格魯吉亞首度第比利斯的一個古典音樂世家。他起初學習鋼琴，後來改學低音提琴。跟隨作曲家父親的腳步，林達僑兼習小號，最終走入作曲領域鑽研。十四歲那年，林達僑贏得第比利斯國家青年藝術家弦樂比賽。十六歲時，他獲指揮大師卡其茲委任，擔當第比利斯歌劇及芭蕾舞樂團助理首席低音大提琴。自第比利斯音樂學院低音大提琴和作曲專業畢業後，林達僑去到莫斯科音樂學院，跟隨教授列夫·拉科夫學習低音大提琴。在莫斯科求學期間，他是莫斯科電台及電視交響樂團的成員之一。1995年，在莫斯科舉辦的首屆庫賽維茲基國際低音大提琴比賽上，林達僑獲得季軍。

從莫斯科音樂學院畢業後，林達僑獲倫敦交響樂團首席低音大提琴托馬斯·馬丁邀請，以全額獎學金入讀倫敦市政廳音樂及戲劇學院。後來，林達僑由倫敦前往芝加哥，追隨芝加哥交響樂團的斯蒂夫·萊斯特學習。林達僑擔任芝加哥市民管弦樂團首席低音大提琴以及芝加哥交響樂團後備樂手期間，與諸多世界知名指揮家合作。他曾與奇靈格里安領導的燈塔獨奏家樂團合作，在塞浦路斯、倫敦和布拉格等地演出。

閒暇時候，林達僑樂意與小提琴家妻子達瑪拉、兒子湯米和女兒娜提亞一道，探索香港。他如今演奏的是一架1997年由扎克斯塔德製作的當代低音大提琴。