Ever since its founding in 2009, the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra has been blazing a new trail in China as the first and only privately funded symphony orchestra in the country.

The orchestra performs regularly in major Chinese cities, as well as in Korea and Singapore, and increasingly frequently in other countries around the world.

Its music director is the conductor and teacher Zhang Guoyong, who trained at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where he currently teaches, and in Moscow with the renowned Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

The orchestra will be joined by violinist Feng Ning, recognised internationally as an artist of great lyricism, as demonstrated on several recordings for Dutch label Channel Classics.

The first part of the programme will consist of works by two Chinese composers: Jiping Zhao is a prolific composer and renowned teacher, known principally for his film music. He describes his Violin Concerto No. 1 as being »based on the principles of the Western concerto, with some compositional and aesthetic adaptations to Chinese music.«

The Chinese-born American composer Tan Dun draws on a range of Western and Chinese influences, and his music is therefore marked by the constant tension and harmony between these two worlds. Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds explores sounds from nature produced by wind, water, and birds.

The second half of the programme will consist of the eastern-flavoured symphonic suite Scheherazade by the great master of orchestration Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov, inspired by stories from the collection of folk tales One Thousand and One Nights.

About Guiyang Symphony Orchestra

An orchestra with a rapidly growing reputation, the Guiyang Symphony has broken new grounds in China since its establishment in 2009. As the first and only privately funded and endowed symphony orchestra, it is a pioneer and forerunner in changing the classical music landscape of China. Furthermore, having in mind the current global situation, it may be considered a most valuable anomaly.

Since its inception, the vision of the orchestra has always been to uphold the highest possible artistic standards, while providing an environment which is both conducive to positive music-making and developing the artistic talent of each and every musician of the orchestra. At the same time, equal importance is placed upon developing, educating, and increasing the audience base.

The above vision has seen the orchestra grow from strength to strength and is reflected in the number of outstanding conductors, soloists, and musicians who have been attracted to perform with the Guiyang Symphony, as well as exceptionally healthy box office sales to all of its concerts with an ever-increasing audience base.

With an international outlook, the Guiyang Symphony is comprised of musicians from more than a dozen different countries and areas, hailing from thirty music conservatories all over the world with an average age of less than 30 years.

The Guiyang Symphony performs a different program each weekend at the Guiyang Grand Theater, and it performs concerts in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Shenyang, Guilin, Korea and Singapore.

An avid supporter and believer in helping to grow the future of classical music in China, the Guiyang Symphony regularly features young artists in its ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ concert series. Through its active outreach program to local schools, universities, classical music is also being brought to a thirsty audience and the young generation.

The Guiyang Symphony Orchestra recognizes the unusual position it is in, not only in China but globally as well. As such, it is keenly aware of its artistic and social responsibility and will be continually setting higher benchmarks on its way to reach the next artistic ground.

About the Music Director and The Conductor of The Guiyang Symphony Orchestra Guoyong Zhang

Zhang Guoyong began his studies in conducting at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under the direction of the famous conductor, Prof. Huang Xiaotong. In 1993, he was sponsored by the Chinese government for a four-year study at the Moscow State Conservatory named after Tchaikovsky, where he studied under the world-famous conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky and later was granted a PhD in music. He is now the Professor of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, principal conductor of the Shanghai Opera House, and the music director of the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra.

In his career, he cooperated with a number of well-known opera houses and orchestras both at home and abroad. Having a large repertoire including symphony, opera, ballet, and symphonic chorus, he is an expert in Russian works, especially Shostakovich’s symphonies.

His style of conducting is brief, natural, and full of intelligence, tension, and infectiousness. At the same time, his conducting bears a combined characteristic of passion and sense. Wherever he performed, he always impressed the audience and musicians with his sharp hearing, strong basic skills, efficient rehearsal method, and appropriate handling of the music structure.

In recent years he was invited as national representative to take part in those important international events, such as the gala concert of the “Sino-American Culture Year”, “Sino- French Culture Year”, “Sino- German Culture Year”, “Sino- Russian Culture Year”, “Sino- Latin America Culture Year” etc.

In 2014, he conducted NCPA’s HDMI opera movie Carmen and Rickshaw Boy and won acclaim.

Next year, he was invited to join the NCPA’s tour to Italy. In 2016, he conducted the China Philharmonic’s premiere in Russia.

In 2006, he was invited to be the jury of the 8th Cadaques International Conducting Competition in Spain.

Maestro Gennady Rozhdestvensky once told the music critics: “I gave Zhang Guoyong the highest marks in the Moscow State Conservatory’s history. He will always have a place in any orchestra all over the world.”

Zhang Guoyong is now the Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Musicians Association and the Vice Chairman of the China Musicians Association.