Creating the Future of Chinese Symphony, Shanghai Band Academy welcomes its 100th graduate: Departing Student | Orchestra | Shanghai Band Academy
On July 7th, the graduation ceremony for the 2023 Student Performance Certificate of Shanghai Band Academy was held at Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall · Performance Hall. At the graduation ceremony, He Dageng, the CEO of Shanghai Band Academy, announced that Shanghai Band Academy has welcomed its 100th graduate. Among the 10 graduates of 2023, 7 are from Chinese Mainland, 2 are from Taiwan, China, and 1 is from Australia. In the past two years, they have received targeted training for band talents here and completed almost one-on-one tailored courses and practices.
Over the past nine years, Shanghai Band Academy has trained a total of 107 graduates, of which more than 90% of alumni have been admitted to professional bands, serving in 16 cities and 22 bands. There are also 26 people holding important positions such as chief and deputy chief. Many young people here have completed the transformation from graduates of music colleges to professional band performers, and many have already become local band performers or even chief performers upon enrollment. They broaden their horizons and continuously improve at Shanghai Band Academy, and better lead the development of local symphony careers after returning to their hometowns.
Yu Long, Dean of Shanghai Band Academy, sent a message to graduates: "May you maintain eternal curiosity and imagination, never stop exploring and innovating, because you are the future and hope of Chinese symphony."
Two years of high-intensity training, opening the door to career for young people
Shanghai Band Academy is jointly founded by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music, cultivating young band talents with professional standards and international perspectives. The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is one of the practical bases of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy and also benefits from the talent continuously provided by the academy.
Zhou Ping, the head of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, introduced at the graduation ceremony that the Shanghai Band Academy has sent 34 performers to the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, with 27 currently in service, including 5 serving as chief and deputy chief positions. This year, Zheng Shuyi, a graduate of the cello major, and Zhu Yiyu, a graduate of the horn major, were admitted to the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in the recruitment exam for the orchestra.
Zhou Ping said, "The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has always hoped to continue cultivating young talents to make the orchestra have successors. In addition to the Orchestra Academy, we also have more talented young people visible through the 'Qingniao Plan' initiative led by young people and the upcoming Shanghai Summer Music Festival. We hope to open the door to their careers and welcome their own tomorrow."
Zhang Yiyang, a graduating bassoon student this year, comes from the Kunming Nie'er Symphony Orchestra. After graduation, he will return to his hometown and continue his music journey as the vice principal of the orchestra's bassoon. Zhang Yiyang remembers that when he first came to Shanghai from Yunnan in 2021, he still felt a bit uncomfortable with the local environment. He had been working at the Kunming Nie'er Symphony Orchestra for 5 years, and both his work and life had entered a relatively comfortable stage. After being admitted to Shanghai Band Academy, he wound himself up and entered a high-intensity learning state.
"What impressed me the most was my first time participating in the rehearsal of Mahler's" Tenth Symphony "by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. With such a large and complex work, I was amazed by the high level and professionalism of the submission on the first day of rehearsal." Zhang Yiyang recalled. After graduation, he returned to Kunming, hoping to bring back the playing skills and professional and international management experience he learned in Shanghai to his hometown.
Chinese and foreign performers teach according to their aptitude, cultivating talents for the future
Before the graduation ceremony, Zhang Yiyang finally met with Kim Raskovsky, Deputy Chief of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Over the past academic year, 13 New York Philharmonic Orchestra performers, including Kim Raskovsky, have taken professional courses online every two weeks for students at Shanghai Band Academy, accumulating a total of 270 hours. This month, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra resumed offline teaching at Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Nine performers will give face-to-face lectures to students at Shanghai Conservatory of Music in the coming week, rehearse side by side, and perform a chamber music concert with them on stage.
At the graduation ceremony, Gary Kingsling, the head of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, shared his experience after graduating from Julia College. At that time, he couldn't even imagine where the future would lead, but the only thing he was certain of was his love for music. Gary Kinslin encourages graduates of Shanghai Band Academy, "Even in the face of anxiety, uncertainty, and disappointment, do not give up on the pure pursuit of music, because this world needs music, the beauty and hope it brings."
The performers of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra's cello department and cello students from the Orchestra Academy performed the works of Gershwin Piazzolla together. As a teacher representative, Huang Beixing, the chief of the cello department of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, never forgets to remind graduates to "practice the piano every day.". Huang Beixing said that teaching students according to their aptitude is a characteristic of the Band Academy, which greatly enhances the competitiveness of graduates from the Band Academy. "The youthful atmosphere on the students' bodies infects us, hoping to make unremitting efforts for the birth of the 200th and 300th outstanding graduates of the Band Academy."
Liao Changyong, Chairman of Shanghai Band Academy and Dean of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, discovered that after two years of study, he participated in season rehearsals of various professional symphony orchestras in China, collaborated with different conductors and artists, allowing students from the Band Academy to continuously integrate into the team, actively express and create music contexts that belong to young people, and explore their own career paths. He said to the graduates, "At this moment, you are experiencing the flourishing development of China's symphony industry, as well as the innovation of the world performing arts market and the challenge to traditional stage forms. We hope that you can use your talents and abilities to transmit the professional spirit and artistic quality advocated by Shanghai Band Academy to more places."
