Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra
Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SSO) was founded in 1982 with the support of the Shenzhen Municipal Government. The orchestra has grown into one of China’s finest professional orchestras after more than 30 years of explorations and efforts. The orchestra has since distinguished itself as having a high level of excellence and a rising international profile. Violinist Mr. Bing Nie is the current president of the orchestra, Maestro Long Yu as Artistic Advisor, Music Director is the distinguished conductor Daye Lin. Until 2007, well-known Chinese conductors such as Guan Rong Yao, Guoyong Zhang, and Feng Yu have held the position of Music Directors of the orchestra in the past. Christian Ehwald, the Principal Professor of ‘Hanns Eisler’ Conservatory of Music’s Conducting Department in Berlin, assumed the position of Music Director from 2008 to July 2016. Since August 2016, famous young conductor Daye Lin has been appointed as the Music Director of the orchestra.
 
The orchestra has toured regularly around China since 1987, making stops in many cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Sichuan and Xinjiang. The orchestra has also done regional tours in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao in that time. On the international stage, it has toured in over four continents, spanning countries such as the United States, Canada, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Italy, France, Turkey, South Africa, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Korea, Thailand and other cities and has received international acclaims. In 1997, they were invited to Europe and were the first orchestra from China to perform at the Berlin Philharmonie Hall and Smetana Concert Hall in the Czech Republic. In 2007, they were also the first orchestra from Asia to perform at the Cathedral of Saint-Louis des Invalides in Paris. In 2013, the orchestra was invited by UNESCO to perform the Confucian Symphony” Ode to Humanity” at the UNESCO Headquarters City Hall.
 
Since 1994, the orchestra has participated in major festivals including the 4th China Art Festival, 3rd China-International Piano Concerto Competition, 1st World Buddhism Symposium, Shenzhen-International Piano Concerto Competition, China Conducting Competition Concert, China International Chorus Festival, National Center for the Performing Arts Festival, Shenzhen ICIF Art Festival, Mittelfest, Ravello Wagner Music Festival, Bellini Music Festival, French Dinar Music Festival. They have received many praises in regard to these various performances and have been involved in many events on the CCTV.
 
In 2016, the orchestra has received international acclaims for the Chinese New Year Celebration performances in the United States. “Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra implacable grandeur performance could have graced the pit of any regional opera house in the United States or Europe”, praised by the Washington Post. Throughout the years, the orchestra has cultivated long lasting collaborations with great conductors and soloists such as Qiming Lv, Gang Chen, Dun Tan, Xiaogang Ye, Jianping Tang, Ning Wang, Anlun Huang, Qianyi Zhang, Eric Kunzel; conductors such as Delun Li, Xiaotong Huang, Bianyang Chen, Muhai Tang, Zuohuang Chen, Xiaoying Zheng, Lan Shui, Yongyan Hu, including renowned international conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Daniel Oren, Edvard Tchivzhel, Guido Johannes Rumstadt, Lior Shambadal, Husco, Michael Foster and Smart. The orchestra has featured soloists such as Lang Lang, Yundi Li, Sa Chen, Jian Wang, Liwei Qin, Zhou Qian, Siqing Lv, Feng Ning, Xi Chen, Dan Zhu, Zhang Zuo, Arto Noras, Oxana Yablonskaya, Kun Woo Paik, Antje, Weithaas, Midori and Diana Tishchenko as well as famous singers, Yuqiang Dai, Changyong Liao, Zuying Song, Liping Zhang, Ying Huang, Dilber Yunus, Bixia Wu, Xiumei Yin, Hui He, Jose Carreras, Carlow Struly, among others.
 
On the home front, the orchestra has focused on actively supporting the works of local composers. Noteworthy pieces are the premieres of the Choral Symphony “Harmony of the Divine Land”, “Ode to Humanity”, and “Symphonic Folksongs, Hakka Rhyme” which have received critical acclaims from professional musicians, audiences and the media. The orchestra is passionate about supporting the Shenzhen local symphonies. They also perform the works of local composers and promote the culture of Shenzhen annually.
 
“Being the finest orchestra, performing a public service, and bringing over elegant music into the society” is the motto of the orchestra. Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra aims to propagate and promote music literacy in Shenzhen. The orchestra also hopes to enhance their reputation both in China and abroad with a wide range of repertoire and the cultural awareness of Shenzhen.
 

Conductor: Daye Lin
Distinguished young conductor, Daye Lin was born in 1980 in Shandong Province, China. As a child he studied piano and at the age of 15 began to study conducting under tutelage of Prof. Xin Xu, the conducting professor of Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. In 1998, he was accepted into the Shanghai Conservatory of Music to continue his conducting studies with Prof. Guoyong Zhang. In 2005, he obtained a scholarship from DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and further his conducting studies at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin under the guidance of Prof. Christian Ehwald.
 
Between 2010 and 2015, Daye Lin was appointed as Principal Conductor of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra (GSO) and made several concert tours with the GSO in homeland and overseas including in Germany, Italy, Australia, Switzerland, Thailand, Macau (China), Taiwan (China) and Singapore. In 2010, he made his debuts with the China Philharmonic Orchestra at the Beijing Music Festival and with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and both orchestras issued immediate re-invitations. At the Shanghai “Music in the Summer Air” Festival, in August 2010, he conducted London’s Royal Philharmonic. In October 2010 he conducted the Chinese premiere of Madame White Snake – the Pulitzer Prize-winning new opera co-commissioned from Zhou Long by Opera Boston and the Beijing Music Festival (BMF).
 
Besides, he has awarded several times of Excellent Musician Prize by Guangdong Musicians Association since 2011. In 2012, Daye Lin won the First Prize at the 6th Sir Georg Solti International Conductors Competition which held in Frankfurt, Germany and being the first Chinese recipient of this competition. In the same year, he has awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award by Guangdong Musicians Association. Highlights of the 2012/13, with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra he conducted a program of contemporary music by leading Chinese composers, and with China Philharmonic Orchestra, a program featuring Franck Symphony in d minor, as well as making his very successful North American debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, he has been elected as committee member of Guangdong Youth Federation. Highlights of the 2013/14 season include the world premiere of a major new work named A Symphonic Epic “Nine Odes” by Zhou Long.
 
In May 2015, he was invited to conduct the China Philharmonic Orchestra 15th Anniversary Concert in Beijing. He has received the invitation from Mariinsky Theatre to attend the Musical Olympus International Music Festival and conducted the St Petersburg Symphony at the Grand Hall of the Shostakovich St Petersburg Academic Philharmonia. In June 2015 he was chosen to replace Edo De Waart, and conducted the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in the new SSO Symphony Hall. In September, Daye Lin has been appointed as the Associate Professor and Head of Teaching and Research of Conducting Department at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under recommendation of conducting scholar - Mr. Xiaotong Huang, conducting educator - Mr. Guoyong Zhang and well-known conductor - Mr. Long Yu. Recently, he has been appointed as the Associate Head of Conducting Department at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 2016, Daye has conducted China Philharmonic Orchestra, Castillo y Leon Symphony Orchestra and the Composition Concert of Jiping Zhao at the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival.
 
In May 2016, Daye has been officially appointed as Music Director and Principal Conductor of Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SZSO). In September, his appearances as music director with SZSO on the international stages of the Ljubljana Festival, Emilia Romagna Festival, Merano Festival as well as Radiro - International Radio Orchestras Festival in Romania invited by the Emilia Romagna Festival and Radio Romania have received international acclaims.
 
Highlights of 2017/18 season include his appearances with SSO at Konzertsaal Franz Liszt, Concert Hall Klagenfurt, and Smetana Hall. Besides, he has been invited to conduct the Nürnberg Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica Artura Toscanini, Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM in Mexico, earning him critical acclaims.
 

Violin: Tianwa Yang
Winner of the prestigious ECHO Klassik Best Up-and-Coming Artist Award 2014 and the Annual Prize of the German Record Critics 2014 for her Naxos recordings of the Mendelssohn Violin Concertos and Complete Music for Violin by Sarasate. The young violinist, a resident of Germany and heralded by the Detroit News as “the most important violinist to come on the scene in many a year,” has debuted with such major orchestras as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, SWR Baden Baden Freiburg Symphony Orchestra, MDR Sinfonieorchester-Leipzig, Lille National Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and BBC Philharmonic among many others. Ms. Yang has performed under the baton of renowned conductors Marc Albrecht, Andreas Delfs, JoAnn Falletta, Giancarlo Guerrero, amongst others. Other international engagements include those at the Ravinia Festival, Virginia Arts Festival, Schwetzinger Festival, London’s Wigmore Hall, Paris’ Salle Pleyel, New York’s Rose Theater, Lincoln Center, and Leipzig’s Gewandhaus. Ms. Yang has also given live concert broadcasts from the Schwetzingen Festival, broadcast by the SWR Stuttgart; from the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, broadcast by Deutschlandradio; and from the Montpellier Festival, broadcast by Radio France.
 
As a critically acclaimed recording artist for Naxos, Ms. Yang most recently released the Violin Concertos by Castelnuovo-Tedesco recorded with the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg and the complete Solo Sonatas by Eugene Ysaye. Of her previously released recordings of Pablo de Sarasate’s complete works for violin as an eight disc set, David Hurwitz of Classics Today calls Ms. Yang a “sensationally talented violinist,” while All Things Strings speaks of her “stunning effortless virtuosity” and “uncanny affinity for Spanish music”. The Complete works for violin and piano by Wolfgang Rihm was released in late 2012, and she has also recorded Piazzolla’s Las 4 Estaciones Porteñas with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the Vivaldi/Piazzolla Eight Seasons performed with her own ensemble.
 
Raised in the Chinese capital city, Ms. Yang began studying violin at the age of four under Dingding Lin. Demonstrating unquestionable ability, Ms. Yang won six competitions as a young child. At the age of ten she was accepted to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing as a student of Yaoji Lin. At the age of eleven she was gradually invited to perform with major symphony orchestras from home and abroad. Yang recorded the 24 Paganini Caprices at the age of thirteen, making her the youngest artist to release the works. In 2003 Ms. Yang was awarded a scholarship by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to study chamber music in Germany. In 2006 Ms. Yang won several awards during her career including the 2006 “Prix Mont Blanc”, as the first Chinese recipient. Currently she is Professor of Violin at the University of the Arts, Bern, Switzerland.
 
She performs on a Guarneri del Gesu (1730) on kind loan from Mr. Kei Mei Rin in Singapore.
 

 
Soprano: Norah Amsellem
Soprano Norah Amsellem has created a unique place for herself in the world of opera by her sense of dramatic intensity and emotion which she confers upon her roles.
Right from the start of her career, she has sung in the most prestigious theatres all over the world: debut at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, Milan’s La Scala, San Francisco Opera, London’s Royal Opera Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Munich State Opera, Berlin State Opera, Bastille Opera, Paris, the Liceu of Barcelona, Madrid Teatro Real among others.
 
She is also a striking concert artist, displaying exceptional artistry and musicianship, and has performed with the most well-known orchestras and famous conductors such as Marco Armiliato, Daniel Barenboim, James Conlon, Raphel de Burgos, Daniele Gatti, James Levine, Jesus Lopez- Cobos, Sir Charles Mackerras, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Kent Nagano, Daniel Oren, Seiji Osawa, Antonio Pappano, Michel Plasson, Georges Pretre, Leonard Slatkin, Pichas Steinberg, Roberto Spano, Michel Tilson- Thomas, Mareck Janovsky...
 
Norah Amsellem has distinguished herself as Violetta in La Traviata, a role she has sung at Covent Garden, Vienna Staastoper, Munich Staatsoper, Berlin Deutchoper, Teatro Real in Madrid, Warsaw Opera, Teatro Communale di Bologna, NHK and Bunkai Kaikan in Japan, on tour in China Beijing, Tianjin, Harbin, Xiamen, Hainan, Haikou. As reported in the article in the Financial Times, “... an exceptional interpretation, melding a gracious and charming physic with an impeccable technique and a rare emotion”. The DVD of Traviata by BBC Opus Arte, recorded in Madrid in 2005, staged by Pier Luigi Pizzi, immortalized her prestation in a production of reference recompensed by the Gramophone Award. This recording earned spectacular reviews, and according to L’Opera, “A triumphant success. Norah Amsellem is an absolutely exceptional Violetta, a complete and fascinating artist”.
 
Massenet’s Manon has also become a role in which she has distinguished herself. She has sung it in Vienna Staatsoper alongside Rolando Villazon and Roberto Alagna, at the Teatro San Carlo of Naples with Marcello Alvarez, and returned to Vienna to sing it with Jonas Kaufmann. Her sensitive and vibrant interpretation of Mimi in La Boheme has delighted audiences in Naples, Maggio musicale of Firenze, Torino, Seattle Opera, Tokyo, Madrid, Berlin, Vienna, on tour in China Xiamen, Tianjin, Harbin… She has recorded the role with the Atlanta Symphony conducted by Roberto Spano for TELARC.
 
Her “Liu” in Turandot, which she has also sung all over the world - Metropolitan Opera New York, San Franscisco, La Scala, Teatro San Carlo de Naples, San Carlo Felice of Genoa, Florence and on tour in Japan with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino conducted by Zubin Mehta, has also been widely acclaimed: “In her debut Sunday, Norah Amsellem delivered the most alluring Liu this house has probably heard in decades. A former Merola Program participant, the French born soprano is simply an exquisite artist, a sympathetic actor and a singer who believes in taking chances and emerging triumphant. Amsellem’s serenely spun high note, tapering into infinity, and the end of ‘Signore, ascolta” yielded a kind of golden age pleasure.” San Fransisco Examiner.
 
Other major roles in which she excels include Desdemona in Otello (Philadelphia Opera), the four heroines in Les contes d’Hoffmann (Seattle Opera, Versailles Opera, Rouen Opera, Metz Opera); Marguerite in Faust (Las Palmas, Dallas Opera, Berlin); Mathilde in Guillaume Tell with Papanno in Rome, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni which she has sung in Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. The role in which she first triumphed is “Micaela” in Carmen, which she has sung on the most famous international stages, with artists such as Placido Domingo, Roberto Alagna, Rolando Villazon, Jonas Kaufmann (DVD from Covent Garden), amongst others.
 
Her EMI recording of Les Cantates de Rome by Maurice Ravel under Michel Plasson was awarded the Prize of the Académie Charles Cros. In summer 2004 Claves Records released Ms. Amsellem’s solo recording of “Mélodies Françaises” with pianist Dalton Baldwin, and in February 2005 a recording of Verdi songs with Pianist Lydia Jardon on the label Ar Re-Se.
 
She is an alumnus of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Program and got her BA at the Westminster Choir College in Princeton. So far, Mrs. Amsellem has won prestigious awards in several international vocal competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the NATS competition, the Marian Anderson Competition, and the Veronica Dunn International Voice Competition. Miss Amsellem is regularly invited to give master classes in France, Italy, Canada, the Unites States and Colombia.
 

 

Suona: Wenwen Liu
Born in a music family, Wenwen Liu studied Suona under the tutelage of famous Suona virtuoso Ying Liu. She graduated from Shanghai Conservatory of Music, successively achieving a Bachelor and a Master Degree of Suona Teaching. Currently, Liu is a faculty member of Shanghai Conservatory, teaching Suona at the Folk Music Department.
 
In 2017 Liu was invited to Sydney Opera House and Arts Centre Melbourne, performing the New Year Concert under the baton of Dun Tan. During the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival in the same year, Liu performed works for Suona solo at the Concert “Silk Roads of the Sea, Heaven, Spirit and Soul” under the direction of Dun Tan. On 30th December, 2017, she appeared with a Suona concerto by Mr. Xia Guan at the China National Symphony Orchestra New Year’s Concert, which was held at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. With Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra in 2018, Liu attended the Spring Festival Concert at the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts as the only soloist in concert. From 24th January, 2019, Liu has gone on tour with Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra in Europe.
 
Liu has cultivated long lasting collaborations with such great well-known orchestras as China National Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Nice Symphony Orchestra, Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, and Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed as a soloist, promoting and popularizing Chinese instrumental music worldwide. 

Bandoneon: Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi
Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi was born in Atessa on December 26th 1980. He began studying the accordion at the age of nine before switching to the bandoneon later. In 2007, he graduated with honours from Santa Cecilia Academy of Music in Rome. A brilliant performer with refined musicality, he has won many national and international competitions such as: 1st Prize at the National Competition "Città di Latina" (1996, 1997), 1st Prize at the National Competition "Città di Montese" (MO) (1997), and 1st Prize at the National Competition "Città di Rieti" (1999) amongst others.
 
In 2008, he performed at the 58th edition of the Festival di San Remo, Italy. In 2008 and 2009, he recorded the soundtracks by Paolo Buonvino for the films “Caos Calmo” by Nanni Moretti and “Italians” by Giovanni Veronesi – among the actors: C. Verdone, R. Scamarcio and S. Castellitto. On 25th May 2009, he played at the Colosseo (Rome) with Andrea Bocelli, Angela Gheorghiu, Andrea Griminelli and the Abruzzo Symphony Orchestra. The event “L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra” was in aid of the earthquake victims of Abruzzo. It was exclusively broadcast worldwide on RAI 1 and RAI SAT.
 
On December 25th 2010, he performed with the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana in Concerto per la Vita e per la Pace (Concert for Life and Peace), worldwide broadcast by RAI in Bethlehem. On January 1st 2010, he played as a soloist in the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana for the New Year Concert at Teatro Comunale in Florence. In January 2011, he performed for the Fondazione Arena di Verona at the Teatro Filarmonico with the Orchestra dell'Arena di Verona.
 
On June 1st 2011, he performed at the Arena of Verona together with Erwin Schrott during the festivities for the 150th anniversary of the Italian unification. The show was broadcast live by RAI 1. On August 1st 2011, supported by the Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia directed by M. Omer Wellber, he premiered “The Return of the Jackals” – a piece for Accordion, Mandolin, Mag Tape and Orchestra by the Israeli composer Michael Wolpe. Together with Erwin Schrott and Anna Netrebeko, he performed in the most important cities in Germany, England and Denmark in 2012. In the same year, he recorded the DVD "Live in Portofino" on a guest appearance with Andrea Bocelli.
 
In 2013, he performed on a guest appearance with Andrea Bocelli, Riccardo Cocciante, Pino Daniele and Simona Molinari at the event "Teatro del Silenzio". On February 22 2014, he performed at the Ulker Sports Arena in Istanbul together with Andrea Bocelli. From 15 to 19 April 2014, he was a protagonist in the production of the "Verdi Dance" choreographed by Misha van Hoecke at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome.
 
Apart from frequently performing in Italy, he has been giving concerts in England, France, Belgium, Croatia, Serbia, Germany, the U.S.A., Poland, Portugal, Finland, Switzerland, Hungary, Canada, Armenia, Russia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Turkia, Libano, Belarus and China.