In September 2014, co-founded by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Shanghai Band Academy officially opened. "Looking back at 2013 and 2014, during the preparation period, we continued to conduct enrollment promotions across the country. At that time, we often carried leather bags and dragged trolley cases. We introduced to teachers and students from music conservatories in various places that 'three parties Composition, teaching in the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and providing practical opportunities with professional orchestras. When others look at us, they always feel a little untrustworthy and sound a little embarrassed. However, with the strong support of all parties, the Shanghai Orchestra Academy was established. . In the first session in 2014, more than 100 musicians from all over the world applied, and 19 young musicians stood out and formed the first batch of students," recalled He Dageng, CEO of Shanghai Band Academy.
Now ten years have passed, and the achievements of the Shanghai Band Academy in cultivating professional performance talents for professional symphony orchestras are obvious. At the graduation ceremony of the 2024 performance certificate students of the Shanghai Band Academy on July 2, Yu Long, the founder, dean and conductor of the academy, said emotionally, "Ten years ago, we founded the Shanghai Band Academy. The dream is very simple. It is also great - it is to cultivate China's own young symphony leaders to promote the development of China's symphony career. Today, we can proudly say that everyone's efforts have bore fruitful results over the past ten years. We have witnessed the growth and transformation of young performers from young students to independent professional performers on the stage. All of this is inseparable from Shanghai. The spark of the Band Academy cannot be separated from the hard work and unremitting efforts of every member. "
According to statistics, the Shanghai Band Academy has trained a total of 158 young band performance talents. Among them, more than 90% of alumni are admitted to professional orchestras. They shine in 22 orchestras in 16 cities, from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, to Kunming in Yunnan, Guiyang in Guizhou, Lanzhou in Gansu, Hohhot in Inner Mongolia and other local orchestras in my country. They are all present. Among them, 27 people hold important positions such as chief and deputy chief. They have not only made achievements in music, but also played an important role in promoting the development of local culture, building urban spirit, and artistic life. Yao Tianhao, the first graduate of
College, is one of them. At the first student graduation ceremony in 2016, he spoke as a graduate representative, and at this year’s graduation ceremony, he spoke again as an alumni representative. In the past ten years, he has served as the principal trumpet of the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, and obtained a master's degree from a foreign music school. In 2023, he joined the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra as the deputy principal trumpet. "It can be said that the two years at Shanghai Band Academy were the most fulfilling and rewarding time in my life. It was the concentrated and high-intensity training in these two years that created successive generations of outstanding graduates and musicians. This is inseparable from The educational philosophy of opening a band academy and the strict requirements of every instructor have made us what we are today.
Zhou Yanni played at the graduation ceremony
Zhou Yanni, a violin major who graduated this year, is born in 1995. After graduating from Shangyin University with a bachelor's degree, she enrolled in the Shanghai Band Academy, where she gradually found her career direction. Not long ago, she was admitted to the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra through selection and is about to start working after graduation. "We have gone from being young and immature to being able to show confidence on the stage and enjoy music. This is indispensable for the guidance and encouragement of the teachers. When we are on the stage together When I played on the stage, this great trust between people made me realize that it is music that connects us.This love runs through every one of us who pursues our dreams on the road of music throughout our lives. "
On the morning of July 3, the entire New York Philharmonic Orchestra publicly rehearsed Brahms's "Fourth Symphony" under the conductor of the orchestra's music director Jaap van Zweden, which was different from the unprecedented "Brahms Fourth" performance the night before. What's more, this time, all the students from the Shanghai Band Academy sat in the orchestra and played side by side. With the encouragement of the orchestra's principal flute, Robert Langevin, Duan Yayuan played the most classic flute solo in four movements of the New York Philharmonic. This time the whole group came to Shanghai with a very tight schedule, but they deliberately rehearsed the same piece the next morning after performing "Bo Si" the night before. There was only one purpose - to let the students of Shanghai Band Academy get zero success in the orchestra. After the rehearsal, Van Zweden also sat down to answer the students’ questions, “You should spend the rest of your life like students and study hard every day. It's extremely dangerous to get a job in a band and then feel like you're done with it for good. Work is the beginning of your 'honeymoon' with everyone in the band, and this honeymoon period lasts for 50 years. "After the two Summer Music Festival concerts on July 2 and 3, five performers from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, including conductor Huang Xin, continued to stay in Shanghai to conduct a week-long master class and chamber music for the college. Rehearsal and other guidance, and participated in the college’s 10th anniversary celebration concert performance on the evening of the 7th.
Dean Yu Long’s message to young people
“Music is a long and arduous road, but it is also a road full of charm and infinite possibilities. I hope you can maintain your love and persistence for music, and use your musical talents and the knowledge you learned at Shanghai Band Academy to bring more beauty and excitement to the world. " Dean Yu Long sent a message to this group of young people. The Shanghai Orchestra Academy has not only trained batches of young musicians, but has also become a banner for professional symphony education in China. It carries not only the dream and passion of music , but also the respect and pursuit of the symphony career, and the inheritance and innovation of professional standards. Yu Long hopes that this group of young performance talents trained by the Shanghai Orchestra Academy can truly promote the development of the Chinese symphony industry, establish professional standards, and make the world a better place for young people. Talents belonging to our country stand on the world stage and use music to show a praiseworthy and respectable "China image".
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Tian Wanting
Editor/Gong Lifang
