New York Philharmonic

Long Yu is currently artistic director and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, music director of the Shanghai and Guanzhou Symphony Orchestras, and artistic director of the Beijing Music Festival. In addition to their regular season concerts, all three ensembles tour regularly in China and abroad under the direction of Long Yu. He has appeared with many leading European, American, and Asian orchestras and opera companies, including the Orchestre de Paris, Hamburg Staatsoper, Florence’s Maggio Musicale Festival, Venice’s Teatro La Fenice, and the Chicago Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestras, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, and Singapore Symphony orchestras. In the coming season he will make his debuts with the Munich Philharmonic, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

In the summer of 2010 Long Yu led the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra on the Great Lawn of Central Park, featuring Lang Lang as one of the soloists, appearing on the same concert as the New York Philharmonic in celebration of that year’s World Expo in China. Later that year he brought cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinists Midori and Sarah Chang, and others to Guangzhou for the premiere Canton Asian Music Festival in connection with the XVI Asian Games.

Long Yu was born into a family of musicians in 1964 in Shanghai. He received his early musical education from his grandfather, Ding Shande, and went on to study at the Shanghai Conservatory and the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin. His career has included both artistic and administrative appointments. In 1992 he was named principal conductor of the Central Opera Theatre in Beijing, and was involved in the planning of the first Beijing New Year’s Concert, serving 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 was the founding artistic director of the Beijing Music Festival, which plays an active role in commissioning new works from today’s prominent composers, including Krzysztof Penderecki, Philip Glass, Guo Wenjing, and Ye Xiaogang.

In 2000 Long Yu co-founded the China Philharmonic Orchestra and became its artistic director and principal conductor. In 2003 he became music director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. Deutsche Grammophon has released his recordings of Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture, Brahms’s Piano Quartet in G minor in Arnold Schoenberg’s orchestration, and a wide range of Chinese orchestral music, including Yellow River Concerto with Lang Lang. His recordings on Naxos include the Korngold and Goldmark Violin Concertos with Vera Tsu as soloist, as well as Ding Shande’s Long March Symphony.