Daniel Harding Named Music Director of China's Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area
British conductor Daniel Harding will be the next Music Director of China's Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area (YMCG) for an initial term of five years, beginning in 2024. Harding is only the second Music Director appointed to the role and succeeds cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
YMCG is a collaboration between the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, and the Macao Orchestra. They come together with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra in the Xinghai Concert Hall to strengthen musical ties across those four cities, all of which are in the Greater Bay Area.
Harding's role at the organization will include working alongside its founder Long Yu to develop the symphonic program. He will also be responsible for seeking out some of the world's best orchestral players to act as tutors, mentors, and chamber musicians for the program.
Gramophone: Video: 'Music Without Borders', with Yo-Yo Ma, Long Yu and Michael Stern
On January 21, 2022, the sixth annual Youth Music Culture Guangdong (YMCG) hosted a gathering of musician friends for a virtual panel called 'Music Without Borders: Musicians and Music for the Present and the Future,' led by host Zhai Jia.
Limelight: Yo-Yo Ma and The Art of Living, Youth Music Culture Guangdong
Angus McPherson speaks with Yo-Yo Ma midway through the 2020 Youth Music Culture Guangdong in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, an event presented by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and organized jointly by the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and Xinghai Concert Hall, bringing together young musicians from all around the world. Ma is the event’s Artistic Director and a major drawcard for the participants, who have come to the city on the Pearl River in southern China from across the country as well as from the USA, Japan, Italy and Hungary – and even one musician from Australia.
Finnish Music Quarterly: Grappling with Sibelius in China
“Could a certain distance from Western symphonic thought have contributed to the surprising qualities of the performances I heard in China?” Andrew Mellor reviews performances of Sibelius’s Symphonies Nos 2 and 5 in Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Violin Channel: Youth Music Culture Guangdong Instagram Takeover
VC recently caught up with the Youth Music Culture Guangdong Festival for a behind-the-scenes Instagram takeover – direct from Guangzhou, China. Takeover featuring violinist Johnny Gandelsman from Brooklyn Rider, cello luminary Yo-Yo Maand conductor Michael Stern.
South China Morning Post: Yo-Yo Ma China Music Camp - Youth Music Culture Guangdong
Nine days of classes in Guangzhou take students out of their comfort zone – and Ma, the event’s musical director, is always on hand to encourage, advise and inspire them to experiment and try the unknown
The Strad: Yo-Yo Ma on making artistic connections and raising balanced musicians
This month Yo-Yo Ma returns as artistic director of his Chinese education initiative Youth Music Culture Guangdong, a programme that aims to create balanced, astute and connected musicians. Charlotte Smith explores the ideas behind the cellist’s approach
The Spectator: Mao's Music
It’s early in the year but there is unseasonal heat as hundreds of earnest young musicians gather to learn from artists of the Silk Road Ensemble... Fostering innovation in China, a country hindered by an educational system that encourages rote learning and discourages asking questions, is not always easy. Some classical musicians have broken through: concert pianist and child prodigy Lang Lang is a celebrity here, commanding sell-out concerts and legions of fans. But Long Yu, the man who has helped spearhead China’s classical music renaissance (he is artistic director and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of the Shanghai Symphony) wants more.