KLASSIKOM=Innovations in classical music

Five musicians from the Contemporary Hougaku Ensemble of Senzoku Gakuen College of Music in Japan travelled to Beijing to perform last night at the Beijing Modern Music Festival, hosted by the Central Conservatory of Music. Led by composer and conductor Masataka Matsuo, the ensemble presented a programme that combined traditional Japanese music with contemporary works. Pieces by Jin Nyodō, Toshiro...

A concert devoted entirely to the music of Ye Xiaogang was presented last night at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Conducted by Jin Yukuang, the Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra travelled to the capital to perform four of Ye’s signature works, including two SCPO commissions. The programme featured The Loquat in Five Colours , Capriccio: Jade Goddess of Mercy for violin and or...

The Symphony of Era – National Excellent Orchestras Invitation Exhibition continued this week with two programmes presented at the Shanghai Symphony Hall by the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Dr Zhang Guoyong, its Music Director. Tuesday night’s performance featured an all-Shostakovich programme in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Russian composer’s death. The programme...

Chinese composer Yikeshan Abudushalamu , also known by his Arabic name Ihsan Abdusalam , is a Uyghur native of Urumqi. Winner of the inaugural Luciano Berio International Composition Competition, his works have been performed by leading orchestras such as the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Turin, under the baton of renowned co...

The China National Symphony Orchestra returned to the Shanghai Symphony Hall last night with its second programme, part of the Symphony of the Era – National Excellent Orchestra Invitation Exhibition . Jing Huan led the performance, which featured three works by composers closely associated with the CNSO. The concert opened with Festival Overture by Shi Wanchun, a colourful work enriched by the in...

The China National Symphony Orchestra (CNSO) performed in Shanghai last night under the baton of its newly appointed Artistic Director, Shui Lan. The performance, held at the Shanghai Symphony Hall, marked the orchestra’s first programme in the Symphony of the Era – National Excellent Orchestra Invitation Exhibition . Formerly translated as Music of Our Age by KLASSIKOM, Symphony of the Era is a n...

A doctoral candidate of conducting at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Sun Yifan conducted the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in his doctoral graduation concert. The programme featured music by Kodály, Janáček, Berg and Liszt, with violinist Julian Rachlin as the soloist in Berg's Violin Concerto. Sun's score was full of notes he prepared for this concert. Here's a glimpse. Shanghai Symphony HallM...

Jazz trumpeter and vocalist Benny Benack III returned to China for his third visit, staging his second show of the tour with his quartet at the historic Lyceum Theatre in Shanghai on 30 April, in celebration of International Jazz Day . The performance, part of China’s official contribution to the 2025 International Jazz Day global programme, paid tribute to jazz greats and traced the music’s roots...

Jazz luminary, trumpeter and vocalist Benny Benack III returns to Shanghai with his quartet to celebrate the International Jazz Day at Lyceum. Prior to that he is caught hot at JALC Shanghai, his first set and first gig in the week long China tour, showing formidable jazz scat singing with Mar Vilaseca in Ella Fitzgerald. JALC ShanghaiApril 29, 2025 This is a public episode. If you would like to d...

Three undergraduates from the musical department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music perform musical numbers at Jazz at Lincoln Centre Shanghai. The girls are accompanied by TINA from keyboard and another two women instrumentalists, making it an all-female band of six. Here’s a glimpse into the show on April 26, 2025. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscri...

From my experience travelling across China, it’s hard to escape the impression that most theatres care little for grassroots ticket buyers. Some of my worst encounters have happened not inside theatres, but just outside them. At one venue in central Beijing, I repeatedly struggled to collect tickets left by friends. Tight security regulations barred any handover between people inside and outside t...

The Flowing Stream is a popular Yunnan folk tune. Here’s a new arrangement of the tune by Xu Ke performed at the closing of Z+ Festival at the Shanghai Symphony Hall on April 20, 2025 by pianist Zee Zee and her friends. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit klassikom.substack.com

Initiated by pianist Zee Zee, the Z+ Festival—an annual celebration of chamber music either originally written or adapted from other genres—entered its second edition in 2025. The closing concert on Sunday evening featured Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 , performed in Victor Derevianko’s arrangement for piano trio and percussion by Zee Zee and her...

Under the baton of Lin Daye, the Wuxi Symphony Orchestra presented its second programme in Beijing at Tsinghua University, following its debut at the NCPA. The concert featured two works by the orchestra’s music director, Li Shaosheng, alongside Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major and two encores. Pianist Yin Zhi joined the orchestra for the Ravel, while suona player Zhang Qianyuan and tenor Xue Hao...

The Shanghai Conservatory of Music presented Puccini’s La Bohème in a re-imagined production by the China National Opera, directed by Li Wei, at the Shangyin Opera House on 17–18 April 2025. The production starred soprano Yu Guanqun as Mimi and tenor Xiahou Jinxu as Rodolfo, both making their debuts at the venue. Soprano Luo Yudan portrayed Musetta, and baritone Hu Sihao played Marcello. The perfo...

Veteran violinist Chen Xiang dazzled the audience last night at the Shanghai Symphony Hall by performing two violin concertos back-to-back. In the first half, he delivered a rare live rendition of Violin Concerto "Pathétique", Op. 23 by Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst — a notoriously demanding piece celebrated for its sheer bravura. In the second half, he took on Dvořák’s concerto, performing with the Shan...

I had a wonderful time yesterday afternoon giving a lecture at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, primarily to students of composition and conducting. Among the audience were also professors and visual artists, adding to the richness of the discussion. The main theme of my lecture was conducting experimental music. I shared interview and concert footage that I filmed and produced at the Borealis...

The Nine Trees Philharmonic Orchestra, based in the Fengxian district of Shanghai, announced this week that veteran conductor Muhai Tang has been reappointed as Music Director. Tang, who originally served as the orchestra’s founding Music Director, returns to the post after being replaced just two seasons into his initial tenure. Named after the Nine Trees Future Arts Center, the orchestra is the...

Nino Rota’s Divertimento Concertante for Double Bass and Orchestra is such a rarity on Chinese concert stages that any performance of the work deserves special mention. In Xichang, Sichuan province, double bassist Xu Li performed the piece with the Liangshan Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Tang Qingshi, the orchestra’s founder and artistic director. The Liangshan Symphony operates under extr...

Narong Prangcharoen is the Dean of the College of Music at Mahidol University. A prolific composer and founder of the annual Thailand International Composition Festival (TICF), he has led Mahidol’s music programme towards a new standard of excellence. In 2024, as the College celebrated its 30th anniversary, Mahidol Music was ranked 35th in the QS World University Rankings for music education—remai...

On the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons , Chinese composer Wen Ziyang pays tribute to the timeless classic with his own interpretation of the four seasons. His answer is Timeless Four Seasons , a set of twelve-movement violin concertos, each depicting the scenery and mood of a particular season. Commissioned by Major Music, the work premiered on 31 December 2024 in Changsha, Hunan Provi...

Three portrait concerts of Ye Xiaogang, arguably China's most performed and pre-eminent composer, were staged in a week. It started with two sold-out concerts of his Symphony No. 5 "Lu Xun" on March 28 to 29 in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, performed by Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Lin Daye. The frenzy continued last night at the Shanghai Symphony Hall when Chen Xieyang led Shanghai Sy...

The West Bund Theatre in Shanghai opened in March with a gala of musical gems. The star-studded cast included Broadway veterans Meghan Picerno, Ben Crawford, Aime Atkinson, Nic Rouleau, Syndee Winters, and Brittney Mack. The show is a programme of the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival (SSIMF). Managed by the Shanghai Grand Theatre Art Centre, the West Bund Theatre is positioned as a mus...

In ancient China around 3,000 BC, bronze implements were specifically manufactured by the court for use in daily life as well as in rituals. Bronze artifacts, sometimes weighing tons, are considered the most sacred and majestic among other utensils to serve the gods and guests. In a concert last night at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music celebrating the intangible cultural heritages now preserved...

With the CD and vinyl release this month of the Symphony No. 5 "Lu Xun" by Ye Xiaogang, argubly China's most performed living composer, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra ramped up its performance of the symphony premiered April 2017 in Beijing. Here's a glimpse into the concert last night at Shenzhen Concert Hall. SZSO was under the baton of Lin Daye. A second performance of the same programme has been...