With cosmopolitan Shanghai as its base, the Orchestra has continued to evolve and improve. It has, among its members, many famous artists who are recitalists in their own right. Its versatility is reflected in its wide-ranging repertoire which enables them to perform orchestral music with magnificent sounds, or, the winds and strings of Jiangnan Sizhu, Cantonese music, plucked-strings and drum music as small to medium-sized ensembles. It has therefore built a wide audience base. At the same time, the Orchestra is keen to encourage original compositions, thereby enriching its repertoire. Many of them have won awards in the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival and the Shanghai Arts Festival, and are heard in concerts at home and overseas.
The members of the Orchestra have performed in all parts of the world, and wherever they went have won critical and popular acclaim. The Orchestra gave two highly successful Chinese New Year Concerts at the Goldener Saal of Musikverein of Vienna in 2001 and 2003. At home, it has often been invited to perform for visiting heads of state and dignitaries, and was commended as 'a Chinese orchestra with the most beautiful sounds'.
In 1985, under his baton, the Conservatory's Chinese Orchestra launched the first ever Chinese music concert featuring modern compositions in Beijing. He has also led the group to Asia and Europe to participate in a series of international music festivals for cultural exchange and touring performances. He has conducted the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Taipei Chinese Orchestra and concerts featuring symphonic works of famous contemporary composers such as Tan Dun, Qu Xiaosong and He Xuntian. Conducting aside, Wang has also written many works, such as On Broken Bridge – concerto for two pipa, Listen to the Snow for guqin and orchestra, Four Folk Pieces for sanxian and orchestra, The Vulture Catching the Swan for pipa and orchestra, The Flower Drum Song of Fengyang and Herding Cattle. Many of them have been chosen as concert programmes by various orchestras.
Since he was appointed Chairman of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra in September, 2005, Wang has introduced reforms and created a new road map for this orchestra with a long history. With the concerted efforts of Wang and the members, the Orchestra launched the first ever orchestral season in 2006. Concerts such as Resonances of Shanghai , A Paean to the Earth, to Man and to Life and Fire Ritual have been highly commended by music lovers.
Min Huifen won a Class One Award in the
Erhu Competition, a Class Two Award for Originality and an Outstanding Performance Award in the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival. Among her other accolades are the Shanghai Literature and Art Award, the esteemed title of 'An Artist of Integrity and Artistic Excellence' and the first Golden Disc Award of the Chinese Record Company. Min has toured over a dozen countries and regions where her performances have won critical acclaim. Eugene Ormandy, conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra described her as 'an
erhu performer with exceptional talent'. Maestro Seiji Ozawa burst in tears on hearing her play
Torrents of the River. A critic from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, on hearing her play, described her as 'one of the world's greatest string players.'
Luo Xiaoci is currently Vice President of the Shanghai Youth Federation of Literature and the Arts. She premiered many concertos, including
Xiang Yu - the Overlord of Chu ,
Butterflies Love Flowers,
Lin Chong's Nocturnal Escape,
The Phoenix Hairpin etc. With
The Phoenix Hairpin, she made the unprecedented presentation of merging the various art forms for live performance: from playing the
guzheng to writing Chinese calligraphy on the spot, symphonic chorus and recitation of poetry. She has also won considerable acclaim at home and overseas with her compositions
Ink-Play ,
String-Charm,
The Pride of the Fishing Folks and
Ru-Meng-Ling. Luo has performed in many parts of the world, including the Goldener Saal of Musikverein and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, etc.
Qian Jun is currently Vice President of the Shanghai
Dizi Professional Committee. By the age of 10, he was already a young music ambassador going on tour to the United States and performed for President Ronald Reagan. He has won numerous prizes and awards, which include the Samurkan Government Award in the World Ethnic Instrument Competition, and the first prize (Specialism Section) in the
Jiangnan Sizhu Competition for Chinese and Overseas Artists. Qian has visited many parts of the world as a goodwill ambassador promoting the city of Shanghai and for cultural exchange. In recent years, he has worked on exploring the fusion of traditional music with modern music. He and fellow musicians have formed a new Chinese music ensemble, 'Togi+Bao', with Togi Hideki, a
gagaku artist in Japan.
Hu Chenyun is currently a Director of the
Suona Professional Committee of the Chinese Musicians' Association. He graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as a top student in his specialism of Chinese Music. He won a Gold Award at the 14th International Wind Music Festival of Holland with
Birds Paying Tribute to the Phoenix. Last year, he won another Gold Award at the concert 'Presences – China', which was part of the programme of the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival. Earlier this year, he shared the stage with the Orchestre National de France in presenting
Chant G'hai at the Modern Music Festival of France and was warmly received by the audience and the media.
Yu Bin was admitted to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music to study Ethnic Music as a top candidate in the specialism. Yu has won a Class Two Award at the Tianhua Cup All China Youth Pipa Competition and an Outstanding Performance Award at the Budding Music-makers' Concert, which was part of the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival. He was invited to perform in the programmes of the Year of China in France, at the Chinese New Year Concert held at the Goldener Saal of the Musikverein in Vienna, as well as in the Prague Spring Music Festival. He is one of the six-member group, 'Togi+Bao'. The group was warmly received when it performed at the World Expo held at the Aichi Prefecture of Japan.
Zhou Tao is currently President of the Shanghai
Pipa Association. He began learning the
pipa under Sun Yude at the age of 12. He won a Class Three Award at the All China
Pipa Competition in 1980, which was followed by many accolades at home and overseas. In 2005, he gave a pipa recital at the Taipei Concert Hall. Zhou has performed as solo, lead player and in ensembles in many performances. He has a substantial discography which includes pipa solo albums as well as music videos.
Zhao Lei joined the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra after graduating from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2003. In the following year, he and three other artists gave a concert, each playing as a soloist. He appeared in the variety show celebrating the 5th Anniversary of the Macao Special Administrative Region, and in the Chinese New Year gathering organized by the Shanghai Municipal Government for three consecutive years. He is a member of 'Togi+Bao', which has found a firm following in Japan after four years of touring and giving over a hundred concerts. The group also won the commendation of the Japanese Crown Princess and was honoured with her reception.
Song Yibo began learning western percussion at the age of 12, and graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music. She was a lead performer with the Red Poppies Ladies' Percussion group in Beijing between 2000 and 2005, before she founded her own group, Cinderella Percussion, of which she is also the leader. She and the group has toured the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Asia, and received popular acclaim. Song has won many awards, some of which include a Class One Award for Percussion at the Longyin Cup Chinese Instrumental Experience-sharing Competition and a Class One Award (Percussion) at the Central Conservatory's Chinese Instrumental Competition.
Wang Yinrui entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2001 and was a member of the Academy Percussion Group with which he has toured Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Ireland and France. Upon graduation, Wang joined the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra and since then has appeared in many of its major performances. In 2006, he participated in a workshop on new opera under the Open Dialogue series of
The First Emperor Workshop for Music Education, conducted by Tan Dun. In April the same year, he was part of the recording team for the film,
The Banquet.
Chen Huanting graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1979. Chen is adept in both Chinese and western percussion. He was the lead player on the drums in
Song of the General (for Chinese wind and percussion),
In the Deep of the Night (for
jinghuand drums), the drum music
Seizing a Bumper Harvest,
The Fishermen's Triumphant Song and
Flying Dragon & Leaping Tiger. He was a winner of the 1985 Youth Instrumental Competition of Shanghai City. He has toured the Untied States, Austria, Germany, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Singapore and everywhere he went, he was warmly received.
