Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

As one of the oldest symphony orchestras in China, or even in Asia, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO) was founded in 1879 as the Shanghai Public Band. Later it was renamed the Municipal Council Symphony Orchestra and was once hailed as “the best in the Far East”. In 1919, when the renowned Italian pianist Mario Paci took podium, the orchestra started its performing history in association with well-known musicians from Europe and other countries. In 1956 the orchestra took the current name and gradually developed into a “cultural calling card” of Shanghai. Long Yu, the current Music Director, is the first Chinese conductor to have been invited to conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the “Big Five” American symphony orchestras. He’s also the Chinese conductor with the most co-operations with top-notch orchestras all over the world.

Ever since its foundation, the SSO has established working relations with world-famous musicians, among them conductors Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Neeme Järvi, Myung-Whun Chung, Charles Dutoit, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Michel Plasson, Krzysztof Penderecki, Maxim Vengerov, Jacek Kaspszyk, Lan Shui; violinists Pinchas Zukerman, Gil Shaham, Midori, Vadim Repin, Shlomo Mintz, Sarah Chang, Chantal Juillet, Joseph Silverstein, Yu Lina, Cho-Liang Lin, Vera Tsu, Xue Wei, Lv Siqing, Huang Mengla; cellists Yo-Yo Ma, Jian Wang, Mischa Maisky, Lynn Harrell, Li-Wei Qin; and pianists Fou Ts’ong, Yin Chengzong, Gary Graffman, Rudolf Buchbinder, Elena Bashkirova, Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, Dang Thai Son, YUNDI, Kun-Woo Paik, Katia & Marielle Labèque, among others. Moreover, the orchestra has also held successful concerts with internationally renowned vocalists like José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, Jianyi Zhang, Ying Huang, Changyong Liao, Shenyang, Andrea Bocelli and many others. In 2011, the orchestra co-commissioned with the New York Philharmonic One Sweet Morning from the composer John Corigliano and performed its Asian premiere in May, 2012.

The SSO has also created a showcase for Chinese composers to actively present to the world their compositions, which include those by the “new-generation” composers like Tan Dun, Qigang Chen, Bright Sheng, Zhou Long, Chen Yi, An-Lun Huang, Xu Shuya, Guo Wenjing, Qu Xiaosong, Ye Xiaogang and Tang Jianping. The orchestra achieved international success by working with Tan Dun on the original soundtracks of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Banquet, as well as The Map (a multimedia symphonic work). The SSO also places serious emphasis on the performance and promotion of works by contemporary Chinese composers and has maintained good relationships with them. For instance, the SSO has performed and recorded Zhu Jian-er’s complete symphonies and orchestral works with enthusiasm in 2002. Mr Zhu, winner of the Lifetime Honorary Medal of the China Golden Bell Award, is the first and only Chinese composer who has published recordings of his complete symphonies and orchestral works.

Over the years, the SSO has visited countries and regions like the US, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. On October 14, 1990, the orchestra made its debut at Carnegie Hall of New York. Recent concert highlights include its debut at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, on June 20, 2004, its Europe tour and its performances in 11 American cities in the USA in September 2003. In 2004, the orchestra toured Europe during Sino-French Culture Year. In 2005, it held a Spanish tour, and in 2007, it performed in the Goldensaal in Vienna. In 2009, under the direction of its Music Director Long Yu, the orchestra toured North America, performing 12 concerts, including the closing ceremony of the “Ancient Paths, Modern Voices” Chinese Culture Festival held at the Carnegie Hall. In 2010, the orchestra joined the New York Philharmonic at the Central Park in a concert that flared up the enthusiasm for the Shanghai World Expo, the first orchestra ever invited in the Central Park Concert in its 45-year history. In its international tours, the SSO unfailingly sought to integrate Chinese elements into Western music tradition, which received rave acclaim from the audience and media coverage from New York Times, Wall Street Journal,Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Toronto Star. In March 2010, Music Director Long Yu led the orchestra in the 14th Beethoven Festival in Poland, performing in Warsar and Łodz. In July, Long Yu led the orchestra in a joint concert with the New York Philharmonic in the Central Park, New York, promoting the 2010 Shanghai Expo. In July 2012, Long Yu led the orchestra in two concerts in the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, respectively in Kiel and Hamburg.

Apart from artistic pursuits, the orchestra is also committed to introducing hgh-profile artists and art forms into Shanghai. Since early 2009, the SSO has engaged in the series of “the Shanghai New Year Concert”. With the aim of “Introducing the maestros to Shanghai, and the city residents to maestros” and the working principle of “high standard, high disciplined and high sustainability”, the SSO invited maestros Riccardo Muti and Kurt Masur to conduct New Year Concerts in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Both concerts were broadcast live to the entire country via CCTV, OTV and Phoenix TV, offering an opportunity to the whole nation to enjoy the splendor of maestros and showcasing Shanghai’s cultural image.

Since 2010, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has held the annual “Music in the Summer Air” festival, the first of its kind in Shanghai. The festival was co-directed by Long Yu and Charles Dutoit, Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Apart from the Shanghai Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic performing as orchestras in residence, the festival has invited a fine line of orchestras and ensembles including West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the State Hermitage Orchestra, Russia, Macao Youth Orchestra, Southern Taiwan Pops Orchestra, Canzone Trio, Amsterdam Jazz Ensemble, Blake, Buffalo Rome, as well as first-class soloists including Ivo Pogorelich, Jian Wang, Xuefei Yang, YUNDI, Ying Huang, Liao Changyong, Wei Song and Song Zuying. Daniel Baremboim, conducting the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, and Natalia Gutman also made their Chinese debut in MISA.

It was a mission of the SSO to offer artistic education to local residents. The SSO Chamber Concert, the only weekly chamber concert project in Shanghai, launched in 1984 and regularized in 1991, has now hold more than 1000 events. In collaboration with the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and the Shanghai Education Center for Art and Technology, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra launched the MAP (Music Advancing Program) in 2010, giving interactive performances in a number of middle schools and universities.