After years of artistic growth, the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra founded in 1957 has become one of the most important orchestras in China. It is the only Symphony Orchestra which has already visited all five continents and played with international soloists, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lang Lang. Under the musical direction of Yu Long, the orchestra will perform two concerts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein and is part of the closing ceremony of the festival.
Soloist is Ning Feng, born in the province Sichuan in 1981 and Paganini prize winner in 2006. He completed his violin studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London under Prof. Hu Kun with the highest score for 200 years. Since then the violinist has played as a chamber musician and soloist with well known international orchestras, for example in Canada, China, Russia, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. The programme consists of Ye Xiaogangs composition ‹The Song of the Earth› (2004) for soprano and orchestra. Based on original Chinese poems which Gustav Mahler had used for his work of the same name. Ye Xiaogang created a distinct Chinese composition as the artistic answer to Mahler's oeuvre. Peter Tchaikovsky's violin concert in D major will also be part of the program.
