New orchestra begins world tour in Beijing

 

Chen Zuohuang is one star with the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra. Photo provided to China Daily

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"Professional symphony orchestras, such as the National Symphony Orchestra, just came to Guiyang once a year. So I want to build up our own orchestra and enrich local people's lives with Mozart and Beethoven," Huang says.

It was a simple yet bold idea. The local government supported the initiative by investing 1 million yuan and giving Guiyang Grand Theater, the biggest theater of Guizhou province, to the orchestra to use for free.

In 2010, Huang set up a foundation registered in Hong Kong by investing 250 million yuan, which enables the orchestra to run comfortably.

Clarinetist Sheng Wenqiang, now vice-president of the orchestra, had lots of questions when he saw a recruitment posting on the Internet five years ago. Seven years after pursuing his music study in Russia, Sheng could have worked with orchestras in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

In May 2009, Sheng and his violinist wife flew to Guiyang from their hometown in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region for the audition.

The moment he walked into Guiyang Grand Theater, he was reassured because all the judges were top Chinese musicians, including established conductor Han Zhongjie, violin educator Wang Zhenshan and the principal violinist of NSO Liu Yunzhi.

To make classical music accessible to everyone, the orchestra has low-ticket prices ranging from 10 yuan to 99 yuan.

While the orchestra calls for global talent every year and it has expanded its offices from Beijing and Guiyang to Los Angeles and New York, Huang says the orchestra will always be based in Guiyang and perform for local people.

"I love watching the concerts, both the performance of the musicians and the intensity of the audiences. They are so into what they are doing," he says.

If you go:

7:30 pm, April 26. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.