Huang Beixing, the principal cellist with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, plays under the baton of conductor Zhang Jiemin at Shanghai Symphony Hall on Jan 10. [Photo by Cai Leilei/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra introduced a new concert series brand on Jan 10 with the performance of Greetings to the Year of the Snake: SSO New Year's Concert 2025 with our Principals.
"The principals are a most valued asset of the orchestra," cellist Huang Beixing said before the show. Huang has been a member of SSO for 29 years and was appointed principal of the cello section in 2001. "From the gray-haired elderly musicians I saw when I first joined to us today -- young and old, Chinese and expatriates, I've witnessed and experienced the heritage of the principals at the company," he said. "The principals of SSO have all displayed distinctive music personalities and strong techniques."
SSO's principal flutist Bartolomeo Audisio is featured at the concert Greetings to the Year of the Snake: SSO New Year's Concert 2025 with our Principals. [Photo by Cai Leilei/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Italian flutist Audisio who joined the SSO in 2021, said that he enjoyed working in Shanghai at SSO because he loved the food and culture, and most importantly "We are a big professional orchestra, but I feel like we are in a youth orchestra...there is lots of fun and energy all the time, and I have the space to try things with my own instrument".
The five featured principals were violinist Zhu Minjia, cellist Huang, clarinetist Dai Le, trumpeter Xia Fei and flutist Bartolomeo Audisio. They played under the baton of conductor Zhang Jiemin.
The program consisted of works by young Chinese composer Elliot Leung, and classical pieces such as Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, Piazzolla's Primavera Portena, Waltzes by Johann Strauss, Dvorak's Song to the Moon, Faure's Fantaisie for Flute, and a new arrangement of Joaquin Rodrigo's beloved composition Concierto de Aranjuez, featuring the trumpet.
Dai Le, principal clarinetist with SSO. [Photo by Cai Leilei/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Xia Fei, principal trumpeter with SSO. [Photo by Cai Leilei/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Zhu Minjia, principal second violinist with SSO. [Photo by Cai Leilei/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
