National Youth Orchestra of USA to tour China, Hong Kong
The National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America has announced it will tour China this summer, including a concert at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Chinese pianist Li Yundi will accompany the orchestra as soloist.
The National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, an ensemble created by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, will make its Hong Kong debut this summer as part of its seven-stop China tour. It will be the orchestra's first visit to East Asia.
Led by international conductor Charles Dutoit and featuring pianist Li Yundi as guest soloist, the 114-strong troupe will also be performing at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre. The summer tour, which begins in New York on July 10, will conclude in Hong Kong on July 26 with a one-night only concert at the Cultural Centre.
“The orchestra’s first tour to China will be an amazing opportunity for musical and cultural discovery, and I am confident that these talented, dedicated musicians will inspire audiences with their music-making and return home with new knowledge and enthusiasm to share with their peers,” said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall’s executive and artistic director.
Set up in 2013, the NYO-USA gathers the brightest musicians aged 16 to 19 across the US every year to tour around the country and overseas. It is not unlike this city’s Asia Youth Orchestra (which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year), which chooses its members annually through highly competitive auditions before the young musicians join a three-week rehearsal camp in Hong Kong and embarking on its regional tour.
The NYO-USA has already worked with leading conductors such as Valery Gergiev and David Robertson and top violin soloists Joshua Bell and Gil Shaham.
The upcoming China tour will also take the troupe to Suzhou, Xian, Shenzhen and Guangdong. The concert programme that will be performed in all cities will include the premiere of a newly commissioned piece by composer Tan Dun, as well as Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”), and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique.
