Passing it forward to young musicians

Oboist Wang Liang [Photo/China Daily]

When he was just 7 years old, Wang Liang fell in love with the sound of the oboe after watching an uncle perform Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake in China. Ever since, Wang has pursued his dreams in music, and in 2007, 20 years after being enamored by the oboe, he became the first Chinese-born principal oboist of the New York Philharmonic.

Wang is still with the New York Philharmonic, which was established in 1842 and has performed in some 15,000 concerts, more than any orchestra in the world.

As a foreign-born artist living his dream in New York City, Wang is ready to pass on his knowledge to inspire young Chinese music lovers to realize their own dreams.

At the end of 2012, the New York Philharmonic and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra established a four-year partnership in collaboration with Columbia Artists Music LLC to establish the Orchestral Academy in Shanghai, which will enroll 30 students annually beginning in the fall of 2014.

It also includes annual performances by the philharmonic in Shanghai through the 2017-18 season.

"It will be an overture for running the orchestra institute for highly selective young musicians in China," Wang says.

The agreement was reached through the efforts of many visionaries from the United States and China, including philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert, chairman Gary Parr and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra music director Yu Long.

At the invitation of the Shanghai government, Wang, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as well as artistic administrator Edward Yim and principal horn Phil Myers attended an April 7 meeting to lay out detailed plans for the academy.