Long Yu
Profile
As one of the most distinguished Chinese conductors with an established international reputation, Maestro Long Yu is currently Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director of the Beijing Music Festival.Besides his concerts throughout the year with the China Philharmonic and the Guangzhou Symphony, Maestro Long Yu has appeared with a prestigious list of leading orchestras and opera companies around the world, including the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Washington National Symphony, the Orchestre de Paris, the Bamberg Symphony, the Hamburg State Opera, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester Leipzig, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Sydney Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Tokyo Philharmonic and the Singapore Symphony.
Long Yu was born in 1964 into a family of musicians in Shanghai. Musical education in his early childhood came from his grandfather Ding Shande, a composer of great renown, and he later studied at the Shanghai Conservatory and the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin.
Long Yu’s career has included both artistic and administrative appointments. In 1992, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Central Opera Theatre in Beijing, and in the same year, he was involved in the planning of the first Beijing New Year’s Concert and served as its conductor for three consecutive years. He also produced operas for The Urban Council of Hong Kong for five successive years. In 1998, he lead the creation of the Beijing Music Festival and was its Founding Artistic Director. Under his leadership the Beijing Music Festival is regarded as one of the world’s most important music festivals. Along with numerous performances by world-renowned ensembles and artists, the Beijing Music Festival plays an active role in commissioning new works from today’s most prestigious composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Philip Glass, Guo Wenjing and Ye Xiaogang. In 2000, Long Yu co-founded the China Philharmonic Orchestra and was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. Now entering his 8th season with the China Philharmonic, he has maintained the high standard of orchestral performance and artistic administration. In 2003, Long Yu was appointed the Music Director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. He has toured extensively with both the China Philharmonic and the Guangzhou Symphony. From February to April 2005, the China Philharmonic Orchestra took an international tour under the baton of Maestro Long Yu. Within 40 days they appeared in 22 cities throughout North America and Europe. In 2008, for the first time in history, the China Philharmonic Orchestra performed under the baton of maestro Long Yu at the Vatican in the Paul VI Auditorium. The concert was attended by The Holy Father Pope Benedict XIV and marked a giant step in bringing eastern and western cultures closer together.
From January 2009, Long Yu was appointed by the Municipal Government of Shanghai the Music Director of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra which is the oldest active symphony orchestra in China.
Mr. Long Yu’s recordings include, on Deutsche Grammophon with the China Philharmonic, Brahms’s Piano Quartet in G Minor (orch. Arnold Schoenberg) and Wagner’s Tannhauser Overture, highlights of Chinese symphonic music and Yellow River Concerto with Lang Lang. Recordings on Naxos include Korngold’s Violin Concerto and Ding Shande’s Long March Symphony.
Long Yu received the 2002 Montblanc Arts Patronage Award from the Montblanc Cultural Foundation, and in 2003 came Le grade de chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres (The Honor of Chevalier of French Art and Culture) from the Government of France. In 2005, Italian President honored Maestro Long Yu L’onorificenza di commendatore.
