KLASSIKOM=Innovations in classical music

On 1 December, the Youth Edition of Mulan Psalm , a contemporary Chinese opera in four acts, was presented at the Friendship Theatre in Guangzhou. The performance, featuring around 260 artists from the Henan Performing Arts Group, Henan Music College of Zhengzhou University and the Era Festival Orchestra, was conducted by maestro Li Haoran. It marked the first stage production of the re-imagined Y...

Guan Xia’s blockbuster opera Mulan Psalm was revived in Guangzhou at the Friendship Theatre, with Li Haoran conducting a combined force of Henan Provincial Song and Dance Company, Zhengzhou University’s Henan Music Academy, as well as members from the Era Festival Orchestra. This marks the return of the high profile opera sung by a younger generation of singers. The opera’s title role was created...

Three composers: Ni Chenkang, Wu Jixue and Yin Mingwu, were featured in a portrait concert hosted by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music at He Lvting Concert Hall last night. The Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by Zhang Liang. Three pieces of Ni Chenkang, a post doctoral researcher at the Composition and Conducting Dept of SCM who studied with Wolfgang Rihm, were spotlighted in the fi...

Beijing based composer Zheng Yang was commissioned by the Beijing Symphony Orchestra to deliver a symphony exploring the boundaries between arts and technology. The result, Symphonic Coding , was brought to Shanghai by the Beijing Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tan Lihua in a concert taking place at the Shangyin Opera House in May, a programme of the “Times of Our Era“ cultural campaign. The thir...

Chinese composer Yikeshan Abudushalamu , also known by his Arabic name Ihsan Abdusalam , is a Uyghur native of Urumqi. On the second evening of the Shanghai Contemporary Music Festival, his signature piece Repression , received its China premiere by the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Zhao Xiao’ou at Shangyin Opera House on November 18, 2025. Composed in 2020, Repression is a commissi...

The Shanghai Contemporary Music Festival hosted by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the annual week-long celebration of living composers and their outputs, kicked off Monday evening at the Shangyin Opera House. As the opener, Zhang Liang conducted the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra performing music by Zhang Qianyi, three SHCMF’s resident composers Marco Stroppa, Zhou Long, and Jia Daqun. Two w...

The Tide Philharmonic Orchestra, billed as the first professional orchestra established by an ancient town, made its debut on the evening of 16 November in Yanguan County, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. Under the baton of its Chief Conductor, Yu Lu, the enlarged ensemble, bolstered by musicians from the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra, the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra and the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra, perf...

In a recent press conference hosted by the Beijing Symphony Orchestra at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing just before the premiere of Beijing Impressions , a BSO commission and orchestral suite from six composers in five continents, including Sven Daigger from Germany, Mr Li Changjun, President of BSO, called out to Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and thought it would be a good idea for BP...

The Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra concluded its first ever Japan tour at the Kyoto Concert Hall last Saturday under the baton of Lin Daye, SZSO’s MD and President. The tour is intended to be a cultural bridge between musicians in China and Japan and also aims to bring them closer to understand each other better, said Lin shortly before the first sold-out concert in Japan at the Tokyo Opera City Conc...

This is a Chinese language programme with bilingual subtitles. On 7 November at the Kuwayama Art Museum in Nagoya, members of the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra found themselves in an unexpected dialogue between music and tea. In an exclusive and serene tea house, Principal Viola Yang Liuyin and Associate Concertmaster Wu Qian joined their string quartet colleagues for an afternoon that blended Mozar...

This is a Chinese and Japanese language programme with Chinese and English subtitles. When the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra arrived at Nagoya College of Music (Meion) for its day-long residency, few expected it to leave such a lasting impression on the young musicians there. The programme, held on November 6th, brought together two cultures through the shared language of music. It featured two mast...

The Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra made its much awaited Japanese debut at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall under the baton of Lin Daye, its Artistic Director and President, on November 4th, 2025. The orchestra performed music by Beethoven, Takemitsu, Respighi and the world premiere of Wang Danhong’s commission from the city of Shenzhen. Catch an exclusive glimpse into the debut and the backstage sc...

The Tyumen Philharmonic Orchestra from Siberia of Russia made its Chinese debut this afternoon on the big lawn in Shanghai, performing music by Tchaikovsky, Borodin, and Rimsky-Korsakov. Under the baton of Donesk born conductor Yury Medyanik, the orchestra also played music by Chinese composers, notably the Paean to the Red Flag by Lv Qiming, and the Yellow River piano concerto jointly composed by...

Among the twenty young musicians gathered in Quanzhou for the Shanghai Conservatory of Music International Musician Competition, New Zealand-born pianist Leon Chen stands out for his broad musical perspective. Now based in London, Chen works as a répétiteur at the Royal Academy of Music, spending most of his days in opera rehearsal rooms, collaborating closely with singers and conductors. “We’ve j...

Bass-baritone sensation Sir Bryn Terfel returned to Shanghai following his much-acclaimed 2024 recital, this time making his house debut at the Shanghai Grand Theatre. Joined by conductor Gianluca Marcianò, the Shanghai Opera House Orchestra, and soprano Liu Yi, Sir Bryn performed a colourful selection of opera arias, musical numbers, and cabaret songs. He opened the gala with two devilish arias b...

2025 Paganini Violin Competition winner Aozhe Zhang plays Paganini in Anhui in front of the Anhui Orchestra with an introduction made by conductor Yongyan Hu. The showcae is intended to introduce Aozhe Zhang’s concert with Anhui Orchestra in September, his first collaboratin with an orchestra from his home province. Hefei, ChinaJuly 14, 2025 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss t...

The studio recording sesssions for Song of Farewell, Xiaogang Ye’s opera in four acts, was wrapped up Saturday afternoon, one day before it had been originally planned. There was a spontaneous burst of joy and applause when both Ye and Yang Yang, music director of Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra that both performed the opera in concert last week and recorded the music at the Zhejiang Conservatory...

The studio recording of Xiaogang Ye’s opera in four acts Song of Farewell entered the second day at the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in Hangzhou. He was joined by the strong forces of the China National Opera Chorus, Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, leading soloists, Peking opera musicians and an international production team. In this episode Ye explained why he has been obsessed with recordings...

On 16 October, the studio recording of Xiaogang Ye’s opera Song of Farewell began in earnest at the Concert Hall of the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in Hangzhou, just one day after its concert performance by the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Yang Yang. Marking the 15th anniversary of the opera’s premiere, commissioned by the Beijing Music Festival in 2010, this ambitious pro...

Song of Farewell , an opera in four acts by Xiaogang Ye, was revived in Hangzhou by the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Yang Yang, Hangzhou Phil’s Music Director, on the evening of October 14th at Hangzhou Grand Theatre. The opera in concert was joined by the chorus of the China National Opera from Beijing as well as leading soloists including tenor Xiahou Jinxu, baritone Hong Z...

Shanghai based composer Xu Shuya has set the legend of Flying Tigers, a flying squard based and operating in China led by General Claire Lee Chennault during the War Against Japanese Aggression, to opera. Way of A Fighter received its premiere on October 12-14, 2025. It’s commissioned, produced and performed by the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in Hangzhou with an Italian production team commemor...

One notable strength of China’s music scene is its openness to conductors who are no longer welcome in mainstream concert halls across Europe or the United States. Some of these artists have been branded with labels such as “sex offender,” “child abuser,” or “Putin’s puppet.”But not in China. When visiting artists steer clear of the so-called 3T1C taboos, China shows a rare measure of grace and to...

The Mariinsky Theatre has launched an extensive tour across seven Chinese cities — Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Kunming, Changsha, and Xi’an — featuring its ballet and opera companies as well as the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev. The tour began on 11 October and will run through 27 October, marking one of the largest overseas engagements by the St Petersburg-...

On October 12, 2025, maestro Shi Wule will lead the Wule Symphony Orchestra in a special concert at Sala Verdi, Conservatorio di Milano , with guest star Plácido Domingo . This performance forms part of the World Peace Culture & Arts Festival 2025 . The concert will be staged in three parts: an opening segment showcasing cultural bridges between East and West (including works like Ouverture per la...

This is a Chinese language programme with Chinese subtitles. On a golden September afternoon in Beijing, writer and critic Rudolph Tang met Dr. Wu Dielan , a postdoctoral researcher at the Central Conservatory of Music, just outside the old city gate of Xibianmen. Their conversation—part of an ongoing dialogue about contemporary music—began with an unlikely metaphor: listening to modern music, the...