Overseas musicians strike harmonious note in China

Rapid development

Poghosyan is just one of the foreign musicians working with the Shanghai orchestra.

According to Zhou, its president, the orchestra features 10 musicians from countries around the world, including Russia, the US, South Korea, Italy and Japan.

"Thanks to China's rapid economic development, the classical music scene is also booming, with more venues popping up and more symphony orchestras being founded, presenting opportunities not only for Chinese musicians but also for those from around the world," Zhou said.

"Due to their different training backgrounds, the musicians have diverse playing styles. With their rich experience of working with orchestras worldwide, they listen to each other and find a common voice. This blend of local and international talent is a wonderful cultural exchange."

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra celebrated its 140th anniversary in 2019 by touring worldwide, making its debut performance at the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland.

In 2018, it signed with the Deutsche Grammophon record label. On July 9, under the baton of conductor Yu Long, it released a new album, The Song of the Earth, which was recorded in Shanghai and features soloists Michelle DeYoung, Brian Jagde, Zhang Liping and Shen Yang.

The album pairs Gustav Mahler's symphonic song cycle Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth), based on German translations of seven ancient Chinese poems, with the world premiere recording of Chinese composer Ye Xiaogang's settings of the same texts in Chinese.

Peter Solomon, principal French horn player with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, said: "The growth of classical music in China over the past 10 years has been extraordinary. The orchestra was very good when I arrived. It is exceptional now. I think it is very rare for an orchestra to improve so much so quickly."

Solomon, who joined the orchestra in 2012, has made Shanghai his home. He has worked with many orchestras in the US and with the Daegu Symphony Orchestra in South Korea before arriving in Shanghai.

He starts a typical day preparing his children for school. Solomon then usually practices 20 minutes'of tai chi, which he has studied in Shanghai for four years. He arrives at work early to give himself plenty of time to warm up before rehearsals begin at 10 am. In addition to regular evening concerts, he teaches students at the Shanghai Orchestra Academy, an orchestral training program run by a partnership comprising the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Speaking of his life in the city and work with the Shanghai orchestra, Solomon said he will always remember the first concert it gave after the pandemic, as it was such an emotional event. With a program that included Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 conducted by the orchestra's music director Yu Long, the concert featured music to match the occasion.