Yu Long

Hailed by The New York Times as “the most powerful figure in China’s classical music scene,” the conductor and impresario Long Yu has devoted his illustrious career to steering China’s growing connection to classical music while familiarizing international audiences with the country’s most eminent musicians and composers. Maestro Yu currently holds the top position in China’s most prominent orchestras—Artistic Director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing and Music Director of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra—as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also co-director of Shanghai’s Music in the Summer Air (MISA) festival and Chair of the Artistic Committee of the Beijing Music Festival, an annual autumn event that he founded in 1998 and served as Artistic Director until 2017. After 20 years at the helm, Maestro Yu recently stepped down as Music Director of Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and is now honorary Music Director and the Chair of the Artistic Committee. He is currently Vice President of the China Musicians Association and Chairman of its recently established League of China Orchestras. This 2023-24 season, international guest appearances bring Maestro Yu together with The Philadelphia Orchestra and New York Philharmonic, and at home he performs with renowned artists including pianist Stephen Hough, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, Julian Rachlin, baritone Matthias Goerne, and soprano Olga Peretyatko, among others. In the fall, he gives the world premiere of Aaron Zigman & Mark Campbell’s Émigré with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO), co-commissioned by the SSO and New York Philharmonic. One of many career highlights, from February to April 2005, the China Philharmonic Orchestra embarked on an international tour under the baton of Maestro Long Yu. Within 40 days they appeared in 22 cities throughout North America and Europe. This was the first time a Chinese symphony orchestra gave performances in the two continents in China's history. Maestro Yu led the China Philharmonic in 2014 in the first Chinese orchestral performance at the BBC Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall, a concert viewed by millions of people across the United Kingdom. And, under Maestro Yu’s baton, the China Philharmonic Orchestra became the first Chinese orchestra to perform at the Vatican’s Paul VI Auditorium, a concert attended by Pope Benedict XVI marking a giant step in bridging East and West. Since taking the reins of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in 2009, Maestro Yu’s initiatives have included the 2014 opening of Shanghai Symphony Hall. That same year, he founded the Shanghai Orchestra Academy, China’s first post-graduate training program for orchestral musicians, in partnership with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the New York Philharmonic, which also named Maestro Yu an honorary member of their International Advisory Board, a 12-member network of advocates and ambassadors gathered to connect the Philharmonic with individuals and institutions in their home countries. Two years later, he launched the biennial Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition, a result of his relationship with the Stern family dating from the violinist’s appearance at the Beijing Music Festival in 2000 marking the 20th anniversary of his groundbreaking China tour. In June 2018, Maestro Yu became the first Chinese conductor to sign an exclusive relationship with Deutsche Grammophon, offering the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra a global release and distribution partnership, and leading to the recording releases of Orff: Carmina Burana (Live From the Forbidden City) (January 2019) and The Song of the Earth (July 2021). In 2019, he led the orchestra on a tour of the United States and Europe, with performances at the BBC Proms and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw as well as the Edinburgh, Lucerne and Ravinia festivals. As Music Director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2023, Maestro Yu expanded the orch