From July 21 to August 1, 2026, the acclaimed New Oriental Chinese Music Scene returns for its seventh residency season. Under the auspices of the Shanghai Grand Theatre Art Center, the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra and the Cadillac Shanghai Concert Hall will jointly push the production’s cumulative total to a record-breaking 162 shows. As a radiant centerpiece of Shanghai’s midsummer nights, the residency continues to illuminate the city's artistic landscape, adding a brilliant and sophisticated chapter to Shanghai’s summer cultural tourism season.

 

 

 

Blending Chinese music, lighting, and stage design in an organic fusion, the performances embody the lyrical aesthetics of traditional Chinese culture, crafting a poetic realm that harmonises classical beauty with a contemporary sensibility. Ethereal yet powerful, elegant yet expansive, these nine original works of Shanghai-style Chinese music span a diverse range of styles, pushing the boundaries of auditory experience. The lighting and visual designs extend beyond the conventional proscenium stage, immersing the entire theatre space in a multi-dimensional exploration of Shanghai-style Chinese music in the digital era.

 

Audiences are invited on a deeply evocative artistic journey—one that resonates with the cultural essence embedded in their heritage while unveiling the boundless creative possibilities of the city.

 

 

Programme

Essence of the Past

Original Composer Qu Xiaosong
Adaptation Wang Fujian

The ancient bone flute whispers across millennia, carrying the wisdom of early Chinese civilization.

The Path of Water

Composer Huang Ke

Water, the highest virtue, nourishes the earth and soothes the soul. Gentle yet powerful, it embodies timeless wisdom and comfort.

The Dance of Fire

Composer Huang Lei Huang Ke

Drums thunder through the clouds, igniting the grandeur and vitality of life.

Spirit of Chinese Calligraphy

Composer Luo Xiaoci

Between black ink and white paper, a universe unfolds－fluid, dynamic, and boundless. Mind and spirit roam free in the play of brush and ink.

Landscape

Composer Wang Yunfei

I sing unbound and stride the wide world. My spirit attuned to Nature’s chorus, where mountains and rivers are my true companions.

Song of Departure
Adapted from the ancient pieces The Conqueror Unarms, and Besieged

Creation and Adaptation Huang Lei, Yu Bin

A heart of boundless heroism and world-eclipsing feats, crowned by the beauty’s enduring song and unswerving love.

Into the Beyond

Composer Huang Lei

Riding the cosmic wind with a burst of unbound and soaring inspiration; imagination transcends time and space, reaching every horizon.

Flying Bees
Adapted from Flight of the Bumblebee

Original composer Rimsky Korsakov
Creation and Adaptation Kong Zhixuan

The flying bows dart, the strings weave a dance, a music’s breath that swallows Heaven and Earth. The passage sweeps with speed of sudden wind, and rhythmic strokes descend like driven rain.

Silk Road

Composer Jiang Ying

The music’s sound becomes the wings roaming the cosmic space between Heaven and Earth. The heart may fly a thousand miles, where boundless beauty knows no end.

 

Programs and artists are subject to change.

 

Shanghai Chinese Orchestra
Founded in 1952, Shanghai Chinese Orchestra is the first large-scale modern Chinese orchestra in China. Being an indispensable ingredient of in the development of Chinese music, SHCO is celebrated with its distinctive styles and masterly performances, as well as for its many great minds who have all contributed to this genre: Zhang Ziqian, Lu Chunling, Sun Yude, Gu Guanren, Min Huifen, Yu Xunfa, Gong Yi, etc.

The orchestra is best known for Shanghai-style Chinese music, a heritage passed down by generations of SHCO artists who have been devoted to this cause. They have created and premiered a line of highly-regarded, excellent works such as "Fisherman's Song of the East China Sea" and "Special Concert of Asian, African and Latin American Music".

Nowadays, SHCO has grown into a full size Chinese orchestra with four parts: bowed string, plucked string, wind, and percussion. Since its inaugural season in 2005, SHCO has accumulated a number of contemporary classics and brand projects. Meanwhile, SHCO has also given performances for charity, unremittingly making efforts to promote Chinese music. With its footprints across China and dozens of countries and regions around the globe, SHCO has been acclaimed as "the most inspiring Chinese orchestra".

In recent years, SHCO is committed to the innovative development of Chinese music, putting forward the ideas of "Chinese music, contemporary temperament, and international expression", while ceaselessly seeking the contemporary value of traditional Chinese music. In the course of integrating Chinese thinking and modern expressive purposes into composition, SHCO has created a variety of original Shanghai-style Chinese music titles. They vary in style and in subject: "Magnificent China", "New Oriental Chinese Music Scene", “The Land Woven in Verse”, “Digital Splendour”, “The Sound of Oriental Wisdom”, "Our Common Homeland", "The Bund", and. "The Blooming of the Gardenia", These signature titles earned the reputation of Shanghai-style Chinese music in the new era. Among these works, some were performed at the opening and closing ceremonies of the China Shanghai International Arts Festival and the Silk Road International Arts Festival; some were special performances in celebration of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and foreign countries, contributing to cultural diplomacy and cultural exchanges; some toured in countries including Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, and were highly praised by audiences at home and abroad.

SHCO stays committed to the promulgation and renewal of Chinese music, to present the modernity and beauty of Chinese culture, making it more accessible and all-inclusive. We look forward to meeting more kindred spirits, together with whom we will enrich our life and cultivate strength in Shanghai-style Chinese music.