On March 24, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (rco), the world's top orchestra with a history of 135 years, announced the 2024/25 music season. Chinese conductor Yu Lu has been invited to conduct the orchestra's season concert in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in March 2025.
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are recognized as the first echelon of global symphony orchestras.
In the season planning of orchestras of this level, Chinese conductors, and even Asian conductors, are rarely invited to conduct conductors. In the 2023/24 season, only one Asian conductor, Zheng Mingxun, has entered the regular season of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Two years before this official announcement, Yu Lu had received an invitation to the orchestra’s season concert, but the invitation passed by due to the epidemic. The two consecutive invitations represent the century-old troupe’s trust and appreciation for the young Chinese conductor.
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Yu Lu, 35 years old and 189 centimeters tall, was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang, and studied at the Central Conservatory of Music.
His musical talent was appreciated by the conductor Seiji Ozawa, and he was accepted as a close disciple by the conductor. "The best and most talented conductor I have ever seen in my lifetime." The master commented.
Yu Lu
Yu Lu has been working in the domestic music scene for many years. In 2020, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, Yu Lu conducted Beethoven's nine symphonies from memory. He performed them in five concerts over five consecutive days and broadcast the entire process live, which attracted the attention of the industry.
Yu Lu’s next performance goal in China is to take turns conducting three orchestras in nine days to perform Mahler’s nine symphonies. Looking around the world, this is a feat that no one has ever done before.
