KLASSIKOM=Innovations in classical music

In mid September three music institutions in Shanghai have worked together to present a series of events celebrating the achivement of arguably China’s most pre-eminent composer: Ye Xiaogang . Two orchestral concerts were presented by the Shanghai Symphony and Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra while one chamber concert was brought to Shanghai by CUHK Shenzhen Conservatory. In this video Rudolph Tang...

Members of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra played Johann Strauss Jr.’s Voices of Spring on the open-air stage at the annual 2nd Taihu Classical Music Festival hosted by BSO. In an innovative initiative, the chamber ensemble integrated four Chinese traditional instruments for some unique timbres: erhu, sheng, bamboo flute and pipa. The audience loved that. All events for the 2nd Taihu Classical Musi...

The residency of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Shanghai — comprising two opera performances and one orchestral concert — has captivated local audiences. Among them was Wu Jiayu , a high school student studying conducting at the High School Affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, who attended all three programmes from October 1 to 3. She was deeply impressed by the performances. Critics an...

At a press conference on September 28 in Beijing, Beijing Symphony Orchestra (BSO) Director Li Changjun outlined ambitious plans to expand the Taihu Classical Music Festival into what he described as “a big party for classical music lovers.” The announcement came ahead of the second edition of the festival, which runs from October 1 to 7 in Beijing’s Taihu County in Tongzhou District. Speaking abo...

Bayerische Staatsoper launched Shanghai residency last night by presenting Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer in a production directed by Peter Konwitschny. A dozen students from Shanghai, most playing piccolos, participated into the orchestra and joined the curtain call. The performance was conducted by GMD Vladimir Jurowski. October 1, 2025 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss th...

Red Sorghum, an opera in eight scenes with music by Guo Wenjing and story/libretto by Mo Yan, received its world premiered last night in Beijing at the NCPA. Catch a glimpse into the premiere night including footages on official merchandises and curtain call in this video. The show continues till October 3rd, 2025. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers...

Good morning Professor Ye, distinguished colleagues and guests, I am Gao Ying, Dean of the Composition Department at the China Conservatory of Music. My sincere thanks to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music for inviting me to attend both this concert of Prof Ye’s works and the symposium. I especially treasure the opportunity to join you all in reflecting on his creative achievements. This gathering...

On a raining September evening in Oslo, the city hummed with the sounds of experimentation. In galleries, theatres, mausoleums and sewage treatment plants, audiences wandered into sound installations, heard ensembles threaded with electronics, and watched musicians push their instruments or voices to the edge of unkown. This was Ultima, Scandinavia’s largest festival of contemporary music, now in...

Ultima - Oslo Contemporary Music Festival once again affirmed its reputation as one of the world’s most adventurous platforms for contemporary music. The 2025 edition runs from September 11 to 20 across theatres and unconventional venues like a mausoleum, a sewage treatment plant as well as galleries sparsely scattered around the town. Established in 1991 by Norway’s leading cultural institutions,...

Shanghai is honouring composer Ye Xiaogang with a week-long festival of concerts and discussions titled “The Tide Rises, the Clouds Return” , marking both a return to his birthplace and a celebration of one of China’s most distinguished musical voices. The events run from 18 to 24 September , uniting three of the city’s leading cultural institutions: the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai P...

Each August, the city of Matsumoto in the Japanese Alps is transformed. Its streets are festooned in blue and gold, and music spills from concert halls, parks and community centres. At the heart of it all is the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival, a creation of the late conductor that has outlived him, carrying his vision into the future. Founded in 1992, the festival was Ozawa’s answer to the questio...

On the morning of the festival’s second day, Matsumoto transformed into a lively celebration. A grand parade brought together 39 brass bands, featuring around 1,500 musicians from across Nagano Prefecture — from middle and high school students to college ensembles, community groups, and amateur players. For more than two hours, their music filled the air as they marched along the city’s main pedes...

The Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival (OMF)—the annual celebration of Seiji Ozawa’s musical evangelism—opened in earnest on the afternoon of August 23 at Matsumoto’s 2,000-seat Kissei Culture Hall. Though the Maestro himself is no longer physically present, the festival unveiled a packed ten-day programme centred on its crown jewel, the Saito Kinen Orchestra (SKO), under a trio of conductors. Bathed...

Last night at Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, the Norwegian duo of vocalist Siril Malmedal Hauge and pianist Kjetil Mulelid delivered an intimate and finely balanced performance that blended Nordic lyricism with the spirit of jazz standards in their first ever trip to Shanghai. The evening opened with Siril introducing the first song A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square . Her voice, clear and lu...

The 20th Thailand International Composition Festival (TICF) , held from 13 to 16 August 2025 at Mahidol University, reaffirmed its reputation as one of Asia’s most vibrant new-music gatherings. With more than 30 composers from across Asia, North America and beyond, the festival offered a panorama of voices that spanned traditional idioms, avant-garde experimentation, and AI-assisted creation. Demo...

The Shanghai Chinese Orchestra's PX Ruan Soloists launched its inaugural residency programme at the 20th Thailand International Composition Festival (TICF) last night with a ruan recital at the pre-college auditorium. TICF, an annual contemporary music festival in Thailand, is hosted and presented by Mahidol University's Music College chaired by Dr Narong Prangcharoen, arguably amongst the most pr...

When Wilson Ng took the podium to lead the newly formed Asian Modern Symphony Orchestra (AMSO) in Hong Kong end of July, it marked the culmination of years of reflection, professional encounters, and a deep desire to reshape the place of Asian composers in the global music scene. In this in-depth conversation, Wilson outlined the origins of the orchestra, his formative experiences in Europe, and h...

Marking its 35th anniversary, the Hong Kong-based Asian Youth Orchestra (AYO) gave a rousing performance at the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre last night, as part of an ambitious Asian tour spanning 13 cities across mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. Led by conductor Joseph Bastian, the 98-member ensemble delivered Rachmaninoff’s towering Piano Concerto No. 3 in the first half, with solois...

Following is an English recap from a Chinese language programme with Chinese subtitles. On August 1st, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre played host to the second concert by the newly established Asian Modern Symphony Orchestra—a striking evening that fused classical tradition with bold artistic experimentation. From the thoughtfully curated programme to the orchestra’s youthful dynamism, the performa...

Under the baton of Wilson Ng—who co-founded the newly established Asian Modern Symphony Orchestra (TMSO) alongside a group of Hong Kong’s rising young musicians—the ensemble made its highly anticipated debut last night at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Presented by Music Lab, the first of two inaugural concerts featured a bold and diverse programme that bridged Western classics with contemporary A...

Now in its third year, the HKIA Arts and Culture Festival celebrates music and dance in motion. For eight days spanning late July to early August, the annual event transforms one of Asia’s busiest airports into a surprising cultural hub, bringing live performances of classical music, Chinese music, jazz, and dance to the international travellers passing through Arrival Hall A of Hong Kong Internat...

Guiyang Symphony Orchestra, the leading privately run orchestra in southwest China now celebrating its 15th anniversary, presented a programme of Caucasian music last night at its home venue, Guiyang Grand Theatre. Under the baton of Zhang Guoyong—who has served as the orchestra’s music director for the past eight years—the concert featured Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto , performed by concertmast...

Ten postgraduate students of music composition, eight from Shanghai and two from Beijing, showcased their orchestral works in a portrait concert presented by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music's postgraduate studies. A follow up concert featuring another ten pieces by ten students will be presented in six months. The Suzhou Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Zhu Qiyuan. Filmed and recorded at the...

For the first time in its nearly 70-year history, the Hefei-based Anhui Orchestra has announced its inaugural concert season at the Baixi Theatre. Unveiled this morning during a press conference and open rehearsal, the 2025 season will comprise twelve concerts, four of which will be led by the orchestra’s newly appointed music director, Hu Yongyan—a Yale graduate—at the theatre’s main hall, now th...

Co-head of the piano department of the Manhattan School of Music, pianist and tutor Inesa Sinkevych gave a recital last night at the SHOAC by performing music by Debussy, Maessian, Chopin and Brahms. Undeterred by heavy rain, a full audience including some of her former students at Manhattan showed up at the recital. After the concert programme she went on to offer three encores including a piece...