SSO On Tour

Watch an excerpt of Shostakovich Symphony No.10 at the Sydney Symphony’s final performance of its 2012 China Tour in Qingdao.

Hear from Vladimir Ashkenazy and the musicians on the final performance of the tour and their tour highlights:

The orchestra flew from Shanghai to Qingdao on Friday 26 October for the final performance of the tour. Here is a photo diary of the day:

While the musicians had a free day on Thursday in Shanghai, after being on the move for three days straight, Principal Viola Roger Benedict visited the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory to provide masterclasses for Viola students at the Middle School and University … Sitting in gridlocked traffic in a taxi on the way to the Shanghai [...]

A rare free day on the tour gave the musicians an opportunity to get out and about in Shanghai. At night, everyone ventured to restaurants across the city including the tour management group…

The orchestra had an early start on Wednesday 24 October as we moved from Wuhan to Shanghai (we couldn’t afford to have anyone bumped from the flight given an all-important performance that night in Shanghai!) After arriving in Shanghai the musicians moved straight into rehearsal in preparation for that night’s performance at the Oriental Arts [...]

Three members of the 2012 Sydney Symphony Fellowship secured a spot on the orchestra’s 2012 China Tour – Violinist Lucy Warren, viola player Neil Thompson and cellist Eleanor Betts. The Sydney Symphony Fellowship is a prestigious year-long training program for nine musicians under the age of 30 and is supported by Credit Suisse. Visit http://blog.ssofellowship.com [...]

Contrasts…. China is a country of extremes and there has not been a place on the tour where this became more apparent to me than in Wuhan. Going out through the door of our 5-star hotel was like stepping into another world. From shiny marble to cracked pavement, from the high life with cushy beds [...]

On Monday 22nd October a group of us set out bright and early for Xinghai Conservatorium for a day of tutoring and mentoring. It was a tightly packed schedule as we still had to make a 5pm flight for Wuhan. After a late arrival of the bus at our hotel and a misunderstanding on the [...]

On Monday 22 October, the Sydney Symphony visited the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou for a day of outreach activities with the students. The day was the first in a range of activities that will be undertaken between the Sydney Symphony and the Xinghai Conservatory following the signing of a MOU between the two [...]