Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

One of the globe’s most venerable symphonic ensembles beyond the borders of Europe and the United States, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has grown into an ensemble recognized on the international stage. During the present century it has appeared in Western venues and participated in milestone events marking the anniversaries of several prominent concert halls.

Established in 1879 under the name Shanghai Public Band, the group was led by flutist Jean Rémusat, staffed entirely by immigrant Filipino musicians, and performed for European expatriates engaged in commerce in Shanghai. Rudolf Buck assumed the podium in 1907, bringing section principals from central Europe and expanding the repertory to encompass full orchestral works. That development continued when pianist and conductor Mario Paci took charge in 1919, reshaping the ensemble along European symphonic lines; four years later the organization was retitled the Shanghai Municipal Council Symphony Orchestra. Over his twenty-three-year tenure Paci engaged Italian players, among them associate conductor Arrigo Foa, and broadened the audience by presenting open-air summer concerts to Chinese listeners. Foa succeeded him in 1942, the same year Japanese occupation officials redesignated the group the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. Its schedule has continued without lengthy interruption despite the turmoil of war and political upheaval.

Following the close of World War II the orchestra received the name Shanghai Municipal Orchestra as European members departed amid the conflict between Nationalist and Communist forces and were succeeded by Chinese musicians. In 1950 Yijun Huang became its first Chinese conductor, and six years afterward the ensemble adopted its current title, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Xieyang Chen assumed leadership in 1984 and was followed by the present music director, Yu Long, whose European training is blended with Chinese musical traditions. The orchestra’s home is the Concert Hall of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, which opened in 2014. It appears regularly at festivals throughout China and internationally, among them the April Spring Festival in North Korea. In 1990 the ensemble performed at Carnegie Hall’s centennial celebration, and in 2004 it participated in the Berlin Philharmonic’s 125th-anniversary concert, becoming the first Chinese orchestra to play in Berlin Philharmonic Hall. A United States tour took place in 2003, followed by a French tour the next year.

Among its recordings is a 1995 release led by composer and conductor Victoria Bond that presents works by Bond and Liu Tingyu. A 2001 disc documented the patriotic Yellow River Cantata of 1939. More recently the orchestra has recorded for CPO, Deutsche Grammophon—which issued a pair of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra: Great Recordings anthology volumes drawn from earlier material—and Naxos, whose 2021 release features music by Bright Sheng performed by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra together with the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra under the composer’s direction.