The new music season begins in September, with 37 year old conductor Huang Yi taking over as the music director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Yu Long

On July 16th, the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra presented a letter of appointment to conductor Huang Yi. At the age of 37, he succeeded conductor Yu Long as the new artistic director. Yu Long, who has been in charge of Guangjiao for 20 years, will serve as the "Lifetime Honorary Music Director" and will serve as the Chairman of the Guangjiao Art Committee, continuing to participate in the artistic development and business work of the band.

"For me, this trust is a combination of glory and challenge." After receiving the appointment letter from Chen Qing, the head of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Huang Yi said that in the future, he will be committed to promoting commissioned creative and music exchange activities for new works, especially in the Greater Bay Area theme. He will also plan a series of music activities for the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra in 2027 with the band's management.

The new music director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra is elected by members of the orchestra through voting. Among the list of candidates consisting of more than ten domestic and foreign conductors nominated with one vote per person, Huang Yi received the most nominations. Huang Yi is currently a permanent conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra and the first artistic director and chief conductor of the Kunming Nie'er Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as the chief conductor of the Central Ballet Symphony Orchestra. Since 2012, he has been working as a guest conductor with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra for over ten years, and has directed the orchestra to perform in 26 large-scale symphonic works from China and abroad.

Becoming the new music director of Guangjiao, 37 year old Huang Yi faces many challenges. Chen Qing said, "Yu Long's close collaboration with Guangjiao over the past 20 years has put tremendous pressure and challenges on his successors. Huang Yi is now taking on the big responsibility and has gained the trust of the band's management and musicians because he has a vision that aligns with the band."

On that day, the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra released the 2023/2024 music season, which was Huang Yi's first music season as the music director. The new music season has arranged 32 sets of concert tracks, and Yu Long will continue to lead the orchestra to perform 4 sets of concerts. Huang Yi, who takes office in September, will lead the orchestra to perform 5 sets of concerts.

At the opening concert, Huang Yi will conduct Guangjiao and hold hands with violinist Yang Tianwa to perform Shostakovich's "Fifth Symphony", Bruch's "Scottish Fantasy", and Zhou Tian's "Ritual". The closing concert will be directed by Yu Long, who will perform Brahms's "Dual Concerto for Violin and Cello" and "First Symphony" with cellist Wang Jian and violinist Ning Feng.

Many international performers will return to the Guangzhou stage in the new music season, including the French cellist Gothier Kapson, the pianist Stephen Hoff, the violinist Cavacos, the chief of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the violinist Noah Bendix Bargli, Deng Taishan, the gold medal winner of the 1980 Chopin Steel Piano Competition, the Russian soprano Olga Pelegateco, the baritone Matthias Goene, the French violinist Augustine Dumei, and others.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of Polish composer Panderetsky. Yu Long will conduct the orchestra and perform the "Sixth Symphony" with German baritone Thomas Bauer. He will also work with the head of Guangjiao and oboe player Chen Qing to perform the "Little Softboard". He will also perform the "Violin and Viola Concerto" with Julian Rachlin and Sarah McLarvey to commemorate this music giant.

Several international level conductors will also make appearances at the Guangjiao Music Concert, and Ditois will lead the performances of Forrest's "Pelias and Merisander" suite, Dvorak's "Ninth Symphony", and co star with piano star Wang Yalun in Liszt's "Second Piano Concerto"; Eisenbach will conduct a performance of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and perform Schnitsky's Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's Violin Chief Mediyan; Vasily Sinnecki will lead the performance of Dvorak's "Eighth Symphony" and perform Shostakovich's "First Cello Concerto" with cello newcomer Chen Yibai.

Many young musicians will also collaborate with Guangjiao in the new music season. Sun Yifan, a young conductor, will be on the same stage as Deng Taishan, a pianist, to perform Chopin's Second Piano Concerto, etc. It is worth mentioning that on the evening of July 14th and the afternoon of July 16th, 29 year old Sun Yifan saved the venue for Yu Long and successfully performed two concert versions of Wagner's opera "Rhine's Gold" under the leadership of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. This is the first Wagner opera performed by a local orchestra in the history of Guangzhou. Although young Sun Yifan had no experience conducting Wagner operas before, his 145 minute work led by Guangjiao in one go, winning the admiration of fans. Under the proposal and planning of Yu Long, Guangjiao plans to bring the remaining three parts of Wagner's "The Ring of Nibelungen" tetralogy, "Valkyrie," Siegfried, "and" Twilight of the Gods, "to the stage in the future.

Young conductor Cui Linhan will lead the premiere of "The Sun Dunhuang" in the new music season. Cui Linhan was selected for the Dudamel conductor program and served as Dudamel's conductor assistant; Young violinists Lin Ruifeng, Zhou Ying, and Su Qianxun will also appear one after another, performing Zhou Tian's violin concerto "Night Journey", Grazunov's "Violin Concerto", and Brahms' "Violin Concerto".

Based on the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, Guangjiao will actively work with cultural institutions in Hong Kong and Macao to fully promote the construction of the "Cultural Bay Area". Among them, the "Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area International Youth Music Week" will be held again in January 2024 under the leadership of the Chairman of the Arts Committee, Yu Long, and the Music Director, Daniel Harding.