Tour Dates: 30 Sep - 15 Oct, 2012

Formed in 2005, the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is China's youngest professional orchestra.

Tour Dates: 30 Sep - 15 Oct, 2012

Formed in 2005, the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is China's youngest professional orchestra. Under the lead of its artistic director, renowned conductor Choo Hoey, QSO aims to enrich China's culture scene and serve as a bridge between the musical traditions of the East and the West.

Since it was formed, the QSO has attracted many top domestic as well as international musicians, such as Lang Lang, Yong-Yan Hu, YIP Wing-sie, Vladimir Spivakov, Anatolv Reznikovski, Christian Ehwald, Christoph Nielbock and Wolfgang Meyer. In support of them, the QSO has toured Russia, South Korea and many places within China, winning praise from music critics and audiences.

Qingdao (also known as Tsingtao) is one of northern China's most vibrant seaports and economic centers. The sailing regatta of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games was held in the coastal waters outside of Qingdao. It is the home of the famous Tsingtao beer and the annual Qingdao International Beer Festival. Qingdao is also known as the "Island of Music" and is the city that produced the first violin made in China. Qingdao has produced many talented classical musicians, such as Shuzhen Tan (musical educator and violinist), Chuan-Yun Li (violinist), Siqing Lv (violinist), Yang Liu (violinist) and the celebrated young principal oboe of the New York Philharmonic, Liang Wang.

Chief Conductor: Guoyong ZHANG

Zhang Guoyong began his study of conducting at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, under the direction of famous conductor Professor Huang Xiaotong. After graduation in 1983, he remained at the conservatory as a lecturer until 1993, when he was sponsored by the Chinese government for four years of study at the Moscow State Conservatory. While there, he studied under world famous conductor G. Rozhdestvensky.

During his study in Moscow, Zhang conducted and recorded with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra of the Cultural Ministry, The Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Varonesh Symphony Orchestra. In 1997, he obtained a PhD with distinction in music. His graduation concert was highly acclaimed by both the audience and his colleagues. Following the concert, Maestro G. Rozhdestvensky excitedly told critics and reporters, "I have awarded Zhang Guoyong the highest mark in the history of the conducting department at the Moscow Conservatory. He will be able to find his place in any orchestra in the world! "

Zhang now serves as a professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, is President and Artistic Director of the Shanghai Opera House, Resident Conductor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and Editor-in-Chief of China's Opera Magazine. In his multiple roles he has cooperated with many orchestras and well-known musicians both at home and abroad.

In addition to the symphonic repertoire, he has conducted a series of operas, including Rigoletto, Madame Butterfly, Carmen, La Bohème, and Othello; ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, and The Nutcracker; cantatas such as Requiem, Song of the Forest, Stabat Mater, Carmina Burana, and the Yellow River Cantata, and other works.

In recent years, Zhang has been invited to conduct concerts in the United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other areas around the world.