Limelight: INSIDE THE SHANGHAI ORCHESTRA ACADEMY

Limelight
Angus McPherson

“I’m enjoying every part of it – but I’m not enjoying the winter, that’s for sure!” laughs horn player Mindy Chang, who has moved north from the warmer climes of Singapore to take part in the Shanghai Orchestra Academy in China, an intensive orchestral training program run by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

She has just stepped out of a masterclass with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Horn, Han Chang Chou, who is coaching the horn students – in Chinese, with some English and German thrown in – on the audition excerpts they will have to master in order to one day win a job in an orchestra.

Chang’s first exposure to the Shanghai Orchestra Academy program was through an exchange with her university in Singapore last year, she tells Limelight, and seeking further learning opportunities after finishing her undergraduate degree, she enrolled, particularly keen to learn from the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Horn Peter Solomon. “I feel like he really has a lot to give,” she says. “That was actually the main reason that I came here. Peter really ticked all the right boxes.”

The SOA program, which has just celebrated its fifth anniversary, was established in 2014, evolving out of a 2012 exchange between the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic in the USA. “That was the year when maestro Long Yu [Shanghai Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director] started a discussion,” Doug He, Executive Director of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy, tells Limelight. “We all realised that for Chinese orchestras’ development, we needed a lot of good leadership from the musicians’ side.”

To read more about the Shanghai Orchestra Academy, click here.

Classical Post: Shanghai Orchestra Academy Celebrates Fifth Anniversary With Commencement Ceremony

Classical Post

Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA) celebrated its fifth anniversary with the commencement of 10 graduates on July 1. SOA is a collaboration between the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO), New York Philharmonic, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music. It provides a new approach in China to train fresh graduates from music conservatories to become professional orchestra musicians through a two-year program and international partnership.

“The greatest thing about this academy is that we have explored a new standardized system in China to bridge between music graduates and orchestra musicians to provide high-quality professional musicians for China and even for the world,” said Long Yu, the SSO’s music director and the SOA’s founding president.

The academy’s curriculum includes vast amounts of practice and performances, and also provides courses like career planning, performance mental health, and how to best avoid fatigue.

In addition to working with academy faculty, the students are also taught by musicians from top orchestras around the world and provided with opportunities to play with them. For example, the New York Philharmonic sends musicians to Shanghai four times per year for master classes, coaching, mock auditions, and seminars.

Deborah Borda, New York Philharmonic’s President and CEO, considers SOA a “very important project and partnership.” She believes that the New York Philharmonic can also learn from the young academy musicians, such as exploring new ways in the digital era to communicate classical music.

The Shanghai Orchestra Academy resumes classes and performances in September.

History

The academy was founded after Long Yu became concerned about the lack of professional classical music performers in 2011, when he saw the classical music scene in China expanding rapidly and in urgent need of more musicians. He entered a discussion with the New York Philharmonic for a long-term partnership, and they both agreed to make the education project a priority and were later joined by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Shanghai Orchestra Academy began recruiting in September 2014 and has since recruited 75 young musicians. Approximately 90 percent of the graduates have gone straight to orchestras around China and some abroad.

For more information, visit the Shanghai Orchestra Academy’s website.

Strings: Shanghai Orchestra Academy Taps International Principal Players in Cutting-Edge Curriculum

Strings
Cristina Schreil

The Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA) launched in 2014, offering professional training along with a master’s degree in music curriculum (from the nearby Shanghai Conservatory of Music). There is a heavy emphasis on internships with professional orchestras. The academy is also a joint effort between the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and Germany’s NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester. Principals comprise the faculty. The rigorous two-year program is the brainchild of Chinese maestro Long Yu. While SOA is international, its origins are very much homegrown. It rose from a booming classical-music movement sweeping China: In the past 20 years, the number of Chinese orchestras jumped from around ten to 72. Naturally, this proliferation demands skilled players. Maestro Yu dreamed of an epicenter for training the next generation.

Read more here.

Classical Post: Shanghai Orchestra Academy Students Gain Invaluable Experience in NYC

Classical Post

(L to R) Sihong Zhao, Yanru Chiu, Fangyu Huang, Joshua Bell, Renchao Yu, and Kuan Liu \ Credit: Chris Lee

Five Shanghai Orchestra Academy students spent more than eight action-packed days in New York City last month participating in both musical and cultural exchange. In addition to performing Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade in four concerts with the New York Philharmonic as part of its annual Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, the students – called Zarin Mehta Fellows – enjoyed tours of the New York Philharmonic Archives, David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and important cultural sites including the 9/11 Memorial and Freedom Tower, Statue of Liberty, and Brooklyn Bridge.

The four Concerts in the Parks performances attained resounding success with the Fellows. The students – Renchao Yu, violin; Kuan Liu, viola; Fangyu Huang, flute; Yanru Chiu, clarinet; and Sihong Zhao, bassoon – met superstar violinist Joshua Bell in addition to working one-on-one with New York Philharmonic Concertmaster Frank Huang, Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples, and other Philharmonic Principals.

Read more here.

China Daily: Young Virtuosos from Shanghai Orchestra Academy to Play in Parks

China Daily
Hong Xiao

Yu Renchao (third from left), from Shanghai, at a rehearsal with the New York Philharmonic on Monday at Lincoln Center. [Photo by Hong Xiao/CHINA DAILY]

Five young musicians from the Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA) are taking part in a special residency with the New York Philharmonic preparing for the philharmonic's concerts in the parks this week.

The five musicians - violinist Yu Renchao, violist Liu Kuan, flautist Huang Fangyu, clarinetist Chiu Yanru and bassoonist Zhao Sihong - were selected from about 20 candidates after rounds of auditions by a panel of New York Philharmonic musicians held at the SOA in March.

The finalists are Zarin Mehta Fellows, who won the chance to participate in the New York Philharmonic Global Academy Fellowship Program, where they take lessons with philharmonic musicians and perform with the orchestra.

Yu, who is not a stranger to the NY Philharmonic, sat for an interview during a break in rehearsals at Lincoln Center on Monday. They were preparing for the four upcoming big events - performing Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade under the baton of James Gaffigan in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on Tuesday, in Central Park on Wednesday Cunningham Park in Queens on Thursday and Prospect Park in Brooklyn on Friday.

Read more here.

Pizzicato: Shanghai Orchestra Academy collaborates with the European Youth Orchestra

Pizzicato

Over ten members of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) paid a visit to Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA) from October 23 and 27, 2017. During the five-day visit, young musicians from several European countries, including the UK, France, Germany and Bulgaria, performed alongside SOA students in routine rehearsals. In addition, SOA organized a series of cultural events, including an educational exchange lecture, giving the European visitors an extraordinary opportunity to learn about Chinese customs and traditions.

Read more from Pizzicato here.