Passing it forward to young musicians

The school will address a major need in Asia: specialized training of orchestra musicians.

The philharmonic musicians will provide high-level training and instruction to students at the Shanghai Conservatory through three weeklong sessions each season, plus one session during each of the philharmonic's resident performances.

The first New York Philharmonic performance in Shanghai will take place in the summer of 2015.

"We will be in Shanghai to exchange ideas, performances and lectures on behalf of the philharmonic. We will help choose and train 30 young musicians, mostly post-graduates who we believe will have great potential to become great artists," Wang says. "I believe it will gradually raise the level of Chinese orchestras."

Wang's own music career started modestly. As a 14-year-old trying to select an oboe, he met a talent scout who listened to him play and then offered him an opportunity to study in the US. After an impressive audition, Wang enrolled in the Idyllwild Arts Academy in Southern California on a full scholarship.

The principal oboe is considered one of the most fundamental instruments in the orchestra. Wang, 33, says he plans to stay at the New York Philharmonic for at least another 20 years.

Although Wang moved to the US more than 17 years ago, he says he sees himself first and foremost as Chinese.

"The Chinese element is always deeply embedded in me and it's not something you choose. Now that I'm a Chinese-American, I'm also given every opportunity there to live the dream I had."

And he believes music can cross boundaries between different cultures.

"While I'm in the US, I hope to make things happen in music between the two biggest economic powerhouses," he says. "We are so interdependent on each other in so many ways, so it'll be in our best interest to better understand each other's culture through the exchange of culture.

"Harmony is always a good thing."