Pianist Lara Downes Wins $50,000 Medal of Excellence

The Sphinx Organization announces Lara Downes as a recipient of the 2016 Medal of Excellence and $50,000 Artist Grant. Sphinx is a Detroit-based national organization dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts. The organization's annual awards honor outstanding artists of color who demonstrate artistic excellence, outstanding work ethic, a spirit of determination, and great potential for leadership. Lara Downes joins soprano Julia Bullock and cellist Gabriel Cabezas as 2016 honorees. For more information, visit http://sphinxmusic.org/sphinx-medals-of-excellence.html.

GQ Germany: Lang Lang Named "Man of the Year"

Lang Lang was named one of GQ's "Men of the Year" for his active and innovative social media presence.

See a related Süddeutsche Zeitung article by clicking here.

South China Morning Post: Chinese conductor Long Yu to get top honour for bridging East-West gap

South China Morning Post
By Kevin Kwong

Maestro Yu who recently set up Shanghai Orchestra Academy to receive prestigious prize from Atlantic Council next week alongside Henry Kissinger, Mario Draghi and Colombia's president.

Chinese conductor Yu Long is to receive the prestigious Global Citizen Award in New York on October 1. Yu, who is principal guest conductor with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, will be honoured alongside veteran US statesman Henry Kissinger for his contributions to bridging the East-West gap through classical music.

“In 2008, for the first time in history, the China Philharmonic Orchestra performed under the baton of Maestro Yu Long at the Vatican in the Paul VI Auditorium. The concert was attended by Pope Benedict XIV and marked a giant step in bringing Eastern and Western cultures closer together,” says the Atlantic Council, a US think tank on international affairs, which gives out the annual awards.

Born into a musical family in Shanghai, Yu, 51, received his early musical education from his grandfather and composer Ding Shande and went on to study at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin. A musician with vision as well as a strong network around the world, Yu wears many hats and is the artistic director of the Beijing Music Festival and the China Philharmonic Orchestra, music director of the Shanghai and Guangzhou symphony orchestras, and the co-director of the MISA Shanghai Summer Festival.

Recognising the need for specialised orchestral training in China, Yu founded the Shanghai Orchestra Academy in September 2014 to offer a focus on ensemble work in Chinese musical education and training. The academy offers a number of courses that give students a chance to work with overseas orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and North German Radio Symphony Orchestra. This collaboration further cements relationships between aspiring young Chinese musicians and their counterparts in the West.

"I can't say enough about our partners in the Shanghai team. Yu Long had a vision. [He is] incredible, amazing to work with,” Matthew Van Besien, president of the New York Philharmonic, said earlier this year.

Also being honoured at the event will be Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, and Juan Manuel Santos, president of Colombia. Past Global Citizen awardees include actor Robert De Niro, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and the first prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, who died in March 2015.

Long Yu awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur

Conductor Long Yu awarded France's highest honor of merit as the recipient of the fabled Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.

France recognizes Maestro Long Yu's leadership in strengthening China's cultural connections with other nations around the world.

Maestro Long Yu received the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in a ceremony at the French Consulate General in Shanghai this week. As Chevalier, he joins the highest order of the Légion d'honneur, whose past recipients include Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the Lumière brothers, Auguste Rodin, and Honoré de Balzac. The honor dates back to the early 19th century and is among the highest decorations of merit in France.

Maestro Long Yu is only the third Chinese National to receive the award. His notable collaborations with leading French orchestras include Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

This award marks a highlight of an impressive season for Maestro Long Yu. In July, star-studded concerts in Shanghai and Beijing coincided with his 50th birthday, and colleagues including Lang Lang, Alison Balsom and Maxim Vengerov performed, with new works composed by Tan Dun, Qigang Chen and John Williams. At the same time, he led the Shanghai Symphony into their incredible new home, a state-of-the-art venue built mostly underground, acoustically designed by Yasuhisa Toyota (famously, the man behind the sound of Walt Disney Hall). Only weeks later, he conducted the China Philharmonic as the first Chinese orchestra to perform at the BBC Proms. The New York Philharmonic welcomes Maestro Long Yu for subscription concerts in January 2015, and he returns in February with Yo-Yo Ma for his now-traditional Chinese New Year concert with them.

Long Yu is represented for general management worldwide by CAMI Music; please contact Anastasia Boudanoque (+1 212 841 9740, ab@camimusic.com). Further information available here.

Notes for Editors:

Maestro Long Yu is the Artistic Director, Chief Conductor and co-founder of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, and Music Director of the Shanghai and Guanzhou Symphony Orchestras. He is also Founding Artistic Director of the Beijing Music Festival.

He created China’s first orchestral academy, as a partnership between the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Conservatory and the New York Philharmonic.

Other China ‘firsts’ include bringing the first-ever performances of Wagner’s Ring cycle in the country, presenting its first-ever Mahler cycle, releasing the first album of Chinese music on a major recording label (Dragon Songs, alongside Lang Lang, for DG), and bringing the first-ever Chinese orchestra to play at the Vatican when the Shanghai Philharmonic played for Pope Benedict XIV. This year, he led the China Philharmonic as the first Chinese orchestra ever invited to play at the BBC Proms. The Shanghai Symphony under his baton was the first orchestra other than the New York Philharmonic to perform on Central Park's Great Lawn.

He has commissioned new works from many of today’s leading composers, among them Tan Dun, Krzystof Penderecki, Philip Glass, John Corigilano, Guo Wenjing and Ye Xiaogang.

Long Yu regularly conducts important orchestras and opera houses in the West such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Chicago Symphony, BBC Symphony, Teatro La Fenice, Hamburg Staatsoper and Philadelphia Orchestra. He was previously honored to be appointed a Chavelier dans L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, and a L’onorificenza di commendatore from the Republic of Italy. He recently joined the Artistic Advisory Committee of the New York Philharmonic.