Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is the earliest and the best-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 in China, and introduced the first Chinese orchestral work to the audience, hence reputed as the “the best in the Far East.” Practically, 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 – giving premiere performances of several thousand musical works and has collaborated with many guest artists (conductors, soloists and vocalists) of world renown, gained a reputation as the most authoritative explainer of Chinese symphonic compositions while promoting them with every possible endeavor. It has become more and more influential both at home and abroad, after completing most recently the audio &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, etc. Since the 1970s, it 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; while in 2004, it toured Europe to celebrate the Sino-French Cultural Year. Its 125th Anniversary Celebration Concert given at the Berliner Philharmonie (the first Chinese symphony orchestra to play in this hall), was hailed as a great success. In 2009, under the direction of Maestro Long Yu, the new Music Director, the Orchestra embarked on a 12-concert North American tour which included the closing ceremony of the “Ancient Paths, Modern Voices” Chinese Culture Festival. The tour attracted the attention of many mainstream media including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and the Toronto Star.
