Young Chinese musicians take growing role in Asian Youth Orchestra as opportunities to play professionally in China grow
Players credit stints with the Hong Kong-based youth orchestra for helping them win places in professional orchestras, whose number in China alone has doubled to 80 in the past decade
Chen Xun is principal flautist of the 80-strong China Broadcasting Film Symphony Orchestra, which has recorded the soundtracks for more than 2,000 movies since its establishment in 1949.
For Chen, from Guangdong, southern China, who graduated with a master’s from the Royal Academy of Music in London and a doctorate from Indiana University’s music school, being accepted into the orchestra in Beijing in 2015 was a dream come true.
“I love films. I came back to China after my overseas studies due to the rapid development of the music industry [here],” says the 29-year-old musician. “Our film orchestra holds 120 concerts in China and overseas every year. All of the them are full.”
Chen says the Asian Youth Orchestra (AYO), which he joined from 2011 to 2013, was the launch pad for his career with the China Broadcasting Film Symphony Orchestra.
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“It was the first time I participated in a professional orchestra when I joined the AYO. I didn’t have any experience of auditions before,” he says.