Youth orchestra sets the tone

Some of the greatest names in classical music gather every July at the mountain town of Verbier, Switzerland, for an exceptional concert series featuring choirs, orchestras, and intimate recitals.

This year, marking its 30th anniversary, for the first time, the two-week-long Verbier Festival invited a Chinese symphony orchestra.

The Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra, one of China's premier youth ensembles and an affiliate of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, performed on Thursday under the baton of conductor Jing Huan at the festival's main concert hall Salle des Combins.

The orchestra, featuring more than 100 musicians, aged from 9 to 20, performed works by two contemporary composers: Grammy-nominated Chinese American composer Zhou Tian's Metropolis and the famous Chinese French composer Chen Qigang's Reflet d'un temps disparu (Reflection of a vanished time) for cello and orchestra, as well as Spanish composer Manuel de Falla's El Sombrero de tres picos, Suite No 1 and El Sombrero de tres picos, Suite No 2.

With the enthusiastic feedback from the audience, the youth orchestra returned to the stage to play the popular Chinese music piece Jasmine Flower, Tico-Tico, which is an enduring international hit composed in by Zequinha de Abreu, and Spanish Dance No 1 from Manuel de Falla's opera, La Vida Breve.

"It's a dream for many young musicians to perform at the Verbier Festival, and I am very proud that these young people of the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra made it even before they decided to launch their music careers," says Jing, the orchestra's current music director and principal conductor. "We had a very tight schedule because those young people, most of them still in school, were busy preparing for their exams. We started our rehearsals in early July and frankly, I was not very sure if they were ready. But I am very surprised by their performances, which were totally beyond my expectation."

Jing notes that one of the music works, Metropolis, commissioned by the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra in 2022 celebrating the orchestra's 65th anniversary, was inspired by a poem titled Remembering a Thousand Years of Yue from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), describing the metropolitan city of Guangzhou. It explores the intersection between cultures, reflecting the composer's own upbringing.

"Though the audience at the Verbier Festival may not be familiar with that music piece, their reaction was great, which encouraged our young members," says Jing, adding that the orchestra has interpreted the piece very well, as many of the members were born and raised in Guangzhou, allowing them to express their love for their home through the music.

Founded in July 2011, the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra is the first-ever youth orchestra in China organized and administered by a professional orchestra. Since its stage debut in 2012, the ensemble has performed more than 100 concerts at home and abroad. It was invited in 2015 by the Young Euro Classic Festival — one of the world's most important platforms for young international orchestras — to perform two concerts in Frankfurt and Berlin. In July 2021, marking its 10th anniversary, the orchestra launched its first China tour. Though the orchestra's members are very young, they've worked with many established musicians, such as conductor Yu Long, composer and conductor Tan Dun, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Chen Sa.

Internationally celebrated cellist Wang Jian played Reflet d'un temps disparu with the orchestra during the concert in Verbier. He toured with the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra in 2017 when the orchestra made its critically acclaimed Asia-Pacific tour and in 2018, when the orchestra toured Europe.

"The music piece is one of the most performed works by a composer from China and, orchestrally, it conjures some attractive and colorful scenery. The members of the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra did a great job," says Wang. "I am very excited to witness the growth of the orchestra.

"I've performed at the Verbier Festival about seven times. This time I came here and played with a Chinese youth orchestra, which made me very happy and proud. The orchestra is committed and responsive. Though the members are mostly teenagers and are not music majors, they show great talent," he says. "They have received solid music training, which allows them to perform as a professional orchestra."

Chen Wenru, 12, who joined the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra two years ago and plays oboe, says, "I had a great time as a member of the orchestra, though I am not sure if I will become a professional musician. Like many members of the orchestra, I have lots of interests. We may take different jobs, such as engineers, doctors, scientists and teachers, but we will enjoy music and be friends forever."

The Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra's concert at the Verbier Festival brought an end to the orchestra's latest tour of Europe. From July 21-24, the orchestra performed commemorative concerts in Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid, marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Spain and China.