Shanghai opened to the Western world in 1843 and since that time, foreign cultures have integrated with Chinese culture through this commercial port.
The first Western music performers made a mark on the mainland in 1879 when a group of foreign musicians formed the Shanghai Public Band. Then, a few years later, Italian pianist Mario Paci built up the orchestra to more than 50 players, including some Chinese musicians.
Arrigo Foa then took over the baton from Paci in 1942. And Chinese musician Huang Yijun became the first Chinese conductor after new China was founded in 1949.
The orchestra became formally known as the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in 1956.
As for Yu, he was born into a musical family in Shanghai in 1964, and then studied at the Shanghai Conservatory followed by Berlin's Hochschule de Kunste.
His time in Germany was influential in many ways. And speaking about his time there, he says:
"It was in Berlin that I learned the most important things about life, not just from my music studies but from the city's incredible culture scene as a whole."
Later, upon his return to China in the early 1990s, he began working with the country's leading orchestras.
He then founded the Beijing Music Festival in 1998 and China Philharmonic Orchestra in 2000. He is also the principal guest conductor with the Hong Kong Philhamonic Orchestra.
His guest-conducting work includes collaborations with the New York Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the WDR Sinfonieorchester Koln, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
