China Philharmonic Orchestra

(All kinds of gala events were held throughout the country to welcome the new year. There are lots of traditional ways of celebrating, but in the past few years the annual New Year Concert has become a fixture. You may have seen it yourself, since it is broadcast live throughout China and also overseas. This year’s New Year Concert was a extra-special, since it was performed by the China Philharmonic Orchestra, China’s first national philharmonic orchestra. Our new Spotlight team member, writer/producer Shanshan, talked to some of the musicians and managers of the new orchestra. )

This “Overture to the Carnival” composed by Dvorak certainly suits the happy atmosphere of welcoming the New Year. It was the opening piece at the 2001 New Year concert in Beijing. Together with the concert at the Golden Hall in Vienna, China’s annual New Year symphony concert has become a new tradition in our holiday celebrations. Attended by state leaders and broadcast live nationwide, the concert enjoys wide popularity today.

You may have heard these pieces a hundred times or more, but if you’re a classical music fan you never get bored with them. Part of the reason is that different orchestras provide different interpretations of these great works.

The 2001 New Year Concert received special attention, and not only from symphony lovers, since it was the first such event for the brand-new China Philharmonic Orchestra. Via the national live TV broadcast, many people across China had their first opportunity to enjoy the orchestra’s performance.

Established just six months ago, it is China’s first national philharmonic orchestra. It has been a focus of the media, and is already considered one of the top orchestras in the country.

Those lucky people who got tickets for the performance certainly gave it rave reviews. They demanded three encores before they let the musicians leave the stage. It was reminiscent of a similar scene at the orchestra’s premiere in Beijing last month.

The live broadcast has helped to promote the very deserving China Philharmonic Orchestra. Xiong Shengmin, president of the orchestra, believes they are off to an excellent start.

“I hope the establishment of the China Philharmonic Orchestra helps to shrink the gap between Chinese orchestras and the world’s top ones. At the same time, it can help to promote the development of our symphonic performances.”

Xiong Shengmin explains that although quite a few Chinese musicians have won international awards, the country does not have enough first-class conductors and musicians. This is the main reason for the relatively low quality of its symphony orchestras. A shortage of funds is another significant factor. They are attempting to overcome both of these problems in the China Philharmonic Orchestra.

The orchestra is a state-level art ensemble directly subordinate to the State Administration for Radio, Film and TV. Li Nan, vice president of the orchestra, says their goal is to become one of the best in Asia and in the world.

“The orchestra is so far the biggest in China, in terms of the number of musicians. It has 120 musicians, which also places it among Asia’s larger ones. The strings are especially noteworthy as they have bloomed far quicker than the brass and woodwind sections.”

The orchestra has also invested around 10 million yuan, or 1.2 million US dollars, in new musical instruments. The most valuable instrument is a violin that a Hong Kong music company has lent the orchestra for half a year. It alone is worth US$550,000.

But good instruments alone do not make a good orchestra. The most important ingredient is the musicians. The China Philharmonic Orchestra has adopted international practices in employing musicians from around the world. Thirteen European and American musicians were hired after passing the orchestra’s stringent exams.

Kenny Leeper is from New York. Invited to play first trumpet for the China Philharmonic, he says he is glad to be part of an orchestra with so much potential.

“This orchestra has a great potential to grow to be a very great orchestra. We have so many very talented musicians, and I’ve found that people are very willing to try to work things out, to get together, listening across the orchestra to match sounds and to match style. From these kinds of things, I can see people are really trying to make an effort to achieve the music and unify its way. I think right now, we’ll take time to grow.”

Professionalism, without doubt, rules the day. Conductor and artistic director Yu Long, who has worked with several European orchestras, is proud of the musicians’ sensitivity toward music. He points out that China has a highly professional group of musicians, both technically and musically, and the philharmonic’s are the cream of the crop. This, he says, is even reflected in the orchestra’s name.

“The word ‘philharmonic’ is a kind of honor, and a symbol of a good orchestra. To be part of a philharmonic orchestra is a dream that many Chinese musicians have had for a long time.”

They certainly displayed that professionalism, as well as passion, at the New Year’s Concert. The program included such famous classics by Western composers as Chabrier’s “Espana” and Bizet’s “Carmen.”

Introducing more Chinese music and composers to the world is one of the orchestra’s prime objectives. At the New Year concert, the orchestra played several works by Chinese composers. You’re listening now to the famous “Overture to the Spring Festival” composed by Li Huanzhi.

Foreign musicians such as Kenny Leeper find that playing Chinese works is both a challenge and a great opportunity.

“There’s difference in the style. For me it’s been an enjoyable experience to learn this new music. It will take me some time to learn the style to really play it. I hope I can use this environment to really concentrate on my own performance and my own listening skills to better interpret the music.”

They are off to a great start, but the China Philharmonic’s musicians, conductor and managers all know that there is still a lot of fine-tuning to be done. To mold itself into a truly world-class orchestra, every part must come together with one heart and one mind.