Other strings to his bow: Charlie Siem - classical violinist, model and pop performer

There's an intensity to British-Norwegian violinist Charlie Siem that might be easy to overlook. One of the brightest young stars of the classical music world, he exudes a calm confidence - there's the Hugh Grant public school accent, impeccable manners - and his devastating good looks have seen him model for the likes of Dior, Hugo Boss and Dunhill. But these waters run deep and Siem will give Hong Kong a treat when he plays his debut concert at City Hall on November 21, with the City Chamber Orchestra under the baton of guest conductor Ken-David Masur.

You don't start playing the violin at the age of three - yes, really, he was three years old - and practise for hours every day without becoming not only very good at it, but developing an intensity in delivery. It's the music that has given him that depth.

"As a violinist I get to deal with works of genius, be it Bach, Mozart or Beethoven. Coming into contact with these characters on a daily basis, you are engaging with them in this transcendental language of music that goes beyond time and history because as soon as you starting playing those notes you are communicating with the guy who wrote it," he says.

The 29-year-old has played with some of the world's top orchestras - among them the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic - and alongside leading conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguim, Yuri Simonov and Roger Norrington.

That talent didn't come from his parents. Neither his Norwegian father nor his mother, who was born in South Africa, are musical - at least, not in the sense of playing an instrument, but his mother has always enjoyed music and played it to her children. However, the renowned 19th-century Norwegian violinist and composer Ole Bull can be traced back through the family tree, so perhaps some of that musical magic was passed on.