Mozart

 

Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat major, K. 271 "Jenamy"

Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467

Symphony No. 31 in D major, K. 297 "Paris"

Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504 "Prague"

 

*Program is subject to change

 

 

Xu Zhong is an internationally acclaimed conductor and pianist. He currently serves as a Deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, a Council Member of the 6th China Overseas Friendship Association, and a Member of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party (CPWDP), where he also chairs the Central Culture, Sports, and Arts Committee. Additionally, he is Vice Chairman of the 11th Shanghai Musicians Association, a Committee Member of the 9th Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and a member of the Art Expert Committee of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA).

He served as President of the Shanghai Opera House from 2016 to 2025. Currently, he holds the positions of Artistic Director of the Shanghai Opera House, Chief Conductor of the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, and Chief Conductor of the Arena di Verona Festival & Foundation. He also serves as International Chair of Opera at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, External Review Expert for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, and Independent Non-executive Director of NetEase Cloud Music.

From 2012 to 2015, he was Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, Italy, making him the first Asian musician to hold such a directorial position at a major Italian theatre. From 2013 to 2019, he served as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Israel Haifa Symphony Orchestra, becoming the first Chinese musician to assume the role of Music Director in Israeli music history.

Born into a medical family in Shanghai, Xu Zhong studied at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP), where he graduated top of his class under the tutelage of French piano master Dominique Merlet. In conducting, he studied with the legendary Chinese maestro Professor Huang Xiaotong, while his opera conducting was refined under the guidance of Italian opera authority Piero Rattalino.

 

 

Founded in 1956, the Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra is a renowned music performing ensemble and one of China’s premier symphonic institutions. Acclaimed not only for its excellence in operatic and ballet accompaniment, but also for its dynamic subscription concerts, the orchestra boasts an expansive repertoire spanning diverse styles and eras from both Chinese and international composers.

In recent years, under the artistic leadership of conductors Zhang Guoyong, Lin Yousheng, and Xu Zhong, the orchestra has staged a wealth of classical masterpieces, including Tristan und Isolde, Lohengrin, Turandot, La Bohème, Tosca, Otello, Falstaff, La Fille du Régiment, Aida, Attila, Carmen, Der fliegende Holländer, Madama Butterfly, Nabucco, Das Land des Lächelns, Don Giovanni, Roméo et Juliette, Cavalleria Rusticana, and Pagliacci. The orchestra’s Chinese repertoire includes the national opera Sister Jiang; original works such as the symphonic chorus The Great Revival – A Symphony Poem for the New Era, and original operas The Morning Bell, Shennong: The Heaven and Earth, Tian Han, March of the Volunteers, and Meng Hua Lu; as well as Chinese operas Thunderstormand Gambling with Life.

The orchestra has also performed major choral symphonic works, including Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Berlioz’s dramatic symphony Roméo et Juliette, the Yellow River Cantata, and the Long March Suite. Its instrumental highlights include the complete cycle of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos and all nine Symphonies, Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies No. 4, 5, and 6, Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 and Violin Concerto No. 3, and the beloved Chinese classic The Butterfly LoversViolin Concerto by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang. Furthermore, the orchestra has provided the orchestral foundation for ballets including The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Manon, and Don Quixote, as well as original dance dramas such as Early Spring, Chang'e, and The Orchid Pavilion: A Dance Legend of the Calligraphy Sage.

Over the decades, the orchestra has collaborated with numerous world-class conductors and artists on both operatic stages and concert halls. These include Daniel Oren, Lorin Maazel, Christoph Eschenbach, John Nelson, Neeme Järvi, Franz Welser-Möst, Fabio Luisi, Will Humburg, Thomas Sanderling, Markus Stenz, Zoltán Kocsis, Maurice Peress, Jan Latham-Koenig, Maxim Vengerov, Wang Jian, Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, Angela Gheorghiu, Bryn Terfel, Hui He, Liao Changyong, and Shi Yijie.

The orchestra is a frequent guest at major international arts festivals and cultural exchange programs, having toured the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, and other countries, as well as Hong Kong and Macau (China). In 2019, the orchestra made its debut across major American concert halls during a successful tour of the United States.