Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

"THE SHANGHAI SYMPHONY, AN IMPRESSIVE ENSEMBLE, LED WITH PRECISION AND CONTROLLED PASSION BY CONDUCTOR LONG YU." - Los Angeles Times

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has completed a historic North American tour under the direction of Maestro Long Yu. Click here to read the reviews.

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is the earliest and the most well known ensemble of its kind in Asia, through which the Chinese symphonic music develops. Originally known as the Shanghai Public Band, it developed into an orchestra in 1907, and was renamed the Shanghai Municipal Council Symphony Orchestra in 1922. Notably under the baton of the Italian conductor Mario Paci, the orchestra promoted Western music and trained Chinese young talents very early on in China, and introduced the first Chinese orchestral work to the audience. It is hence reputed as the "the best in the Far East." The history of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra may be referred as the history of China's symphonic music development.

Spanning three different centuries, the Shanghai Symphony has now embraced a new era; it has held over ten thousand concerts, including premiere performances of several thousand musical works, and has collaborated with many guest artists (conductors, soloists and vocalists) of world renown. The orchestra has gained a reputation as the most authoritative explainer of Chinese symphonic compositions while promoting them with every possible endeavor. The Shanghai Symphony has become increasingly influential both at home and abroad, after most recently completing the audio and video recordings of such excellent music as: Zhu Jian'er's Symphonies, Tan Dun's multimedia concerto The Map, and music for the prize-winning film (Oscar and Grammy Awards) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Since the 1970s, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has toured extensively abroad. In 1990, the orchestra made its debut at Carnegie Hall in New York; in 2003, it performed in 11 cities in the US; in 2004, it toured Europe to celebrate the Sino-French Cultural Year. The Orchestra's 125th Anniversary Celebration Concert, given at the Berliner Philharmonie (the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is the first Chinese symphony orchestra to play in this hall), was hailed as a great success. Maestro Long Yu is currently Music Director of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

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Complete presskit of the North American tour, November 2009