This Nantong student band's debut performance amazed the audience, and Italian opera classics were played in the Shanghai Concert Hall

On the morning of September 15, the Sunday Radio Concert was held at the Shanghai Concert Hall as scheduled. After playing the last note of the classic aria "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's opera "Turandot", the audience gave a warm and long-lasting applause, and the Nantong University Symphony Orchestra successfully completed their first performance in Shanghai.

The 12 classic opera excerpts include representative works of opera masters such as Rossini, Verdi, and Puccini. The songs span time and space, and the styles are different. The difficulty is self-evident, but they were performed vividly by a campus band that is not familiar to Shanghai audiences. When the Italian conductor Roberto Fiore took the stage to bow again and again amid the applause of the audience, the senior audience in the audience could not help but wonder: What is the origin of this orchestra?

From being an art college of a local comprehensive university to establishing a standard orchestra, and then to participating in competitions and winning awards last year, becoming a city card of Nantong, this process took only four years. Behind this "peak at debut" and almost surging growth is a wonderful story.

In the words of the band's concertmaster and violinist Qin Fang, the band's current performance is "the result of the right time, the right place and the right people."

In 2020, 37-year-old Roberto Fiore left the Conservatory of Music of Guizhou Normal University, where he had worked for four years, and became a "foreign migrant worker in Beijing". He graduated from the Conducting Department of the Respighi Conservatory of Music in Italy, the Rome Conservatory of Music, and the Krakow Conservatory of Music in Poland; taught at the Atlantic Coast Academy in Porto, Portugal, and the Craves Conservatory of Music in Rome; he has conducted the Milan Symphony Orchestra, the Milan NuovaCameristica Chamber Orchestra, and the Rybnik Youth Symphony Orchestra in Poland; this Italian who grew up in an opera environment has a complete resume of a professional musician in Europe.

In 2017, with curiosity about the mysterious East, Robert began his adventure to China. With four years of experience as a baton conductor and coach in Guizhou, Robert, who loves China, can conduct daily band rehearsals and teaching in Chinese. After completing his term at the school, he decided to stay in China. While drifting in Beijing, he accidentally learned from Wu Rong, the vice president of the School of Art of Nantong University, that the school had the idea of ​​establishing an orchestra. Robert decided to go south again, but this time his destination was Nantong, Jiangsu.

Given the situation at the time, it was probably a fantasy to establish a student symphony orchestra in Nantong. The music major of Nantong University School of Arts not only could not find teachers for all parts of the orchestra, but also because of the provincial unified enrollment rules, it was difficult to guarantee the recruitment of professional students. The students who could be recruited each year were basically in a blind box state.

Just when Robert was feeling quite distressed, Qin Fang, the school's violin teacher, became his first friend.

Qin Fang is a legend in Nantong music. Born into a musical family, he graduated from Nanjing University of the Arts with a degree in violin. He has given many concerts as a performer, but more importantly, he is a gold-lettered signboard in Nantong violin education: many of his students were admitted to top domestic schools such as the Central Conservatory of Music and Shanghai Conservatory of Music; many of them later studied abroad and became performers, or joined the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Shanghai Opera House and embarked on a professional career.

Qin Fang does not like the utilitarianism that is prevalent in the music education community. He always tells us that we should not take the exam as the goal of piano practice, but should take understanding and enjoying music and improving our artistic accomplishment as the purpose of piano practice. His pure love for classical music and Robert's concept are in perfect harmony. After all, in his hometown in Italy, music is a happy activity that can be started at any time on the street and inspired by one's feelings.

If there is a shortage of musicians, we start with a smaller group; if the students’ abilities are not yet sufficient, the teachers will first form a chamber music group and perform to serve as a model for the students.

When there were no classes, Wu Rong and Qin Fang always took Robert out to eat and drink. Robert said that he would feel depressed and homesick when he was alone, but the kindness shown to him by the teachers of this school made him feel at home in Nantong.

On the stage of Shanghai Concert Hall, Robert shakes hands with principal Qin Fang.

The introduction of Robert is an important background to the school's 31 Sino-foreign cooperative undergraduate education programs approved by the Ministry of Education in 2019. The project has opened the door to the introduction of international talents.

After repeated planning with the Cooperation and Exchange Office of Nantong University, Nantong University Art College has set a strategy to further expand the foreign teaching and aid teams. On the one hand, through Robert's international connections and contacts, more professional foreign talents are recruited; on the other hand, Nantong takes advantage of its location in the Yangtze River Delta and invites experts in the industry to come to Nantong every week to teach students through cooperation with professional institutions such as the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra.

In the following two years, the School of Arts introduced a number of foreign teachers, which not only enriched the teaching team, but also laid the foundation for the establishment of a full-scale symphony orchestra. At present, the Nantong University Symphony Orchestra has 9 foreign teachers, covering all parts of string instruments, as well as flute, bassoon, oboe, and piano.

The orchestra's foreign bassoon teacher, Jamshid Shotebayev, was formerly the principal bassoonist of the Uzbekistan Symphony Orchestra.

The teachers who arrived at the beginning were like seeds, calling on friends and constantly expanding the band's international circle of friends; and for the school, as long as the international talents have professional resumes that meet the requirements, they will also work hard to facilitate their teaching at the school.

Ivo Martinez, a foreign cello teacher, is a professional performer and also a big internet celebrity active on Chinese online platforms such as Bilibili.

Among these foreign teachers, there is a professional cellist from Italy who has collaborated with EMA Records to record many CD albums; there are first prize winners in many Russian and international piano competitions; and there are principal and deputy principal violinists, violas, double basses, and bassoonists from the Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra.

The foreign viola teacher is Artyom Grebennikov, who was formerly the principal viola player of the Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra and the Uzbekistan National Musical Comedy Theater.

Regarding the joining of these foreign teachers, Qin Fang said: "They are all professional performers with many years of stage experience. With their level, they can definitely be admitted to any top orchestra in China."

Foreign violin teacher Lilia Shebakova. She was the principal violinist of the Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra. In 2018, she was awarded the "Shuhrat" medal by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for her outstanding performance and professionalism.

As for why foreign musicians are willing to settle down in Nantong, a small city by the river and the sea, Wu Rong has her own understanding: "We offer foreign teachers an associate professor-level salary, which is competitive in the industry; but what is more important is to exchange hearts. We have continued the tradition of regular working dinners with Robert. We often pay for the gatherings out of our own pockets, and foreign teachers can express their problems and confusions encountered in work and life frankly. As the manager of the band, I can respond to and solve the teachers' ideas in a targeted manner. Gradually, the band has become a big family where no one can do without each other."

From quartet to octet to small orchestra, under the guidance of foreign coaches, the student band of Nantong University has grown rapidly. At the same time, the lack of wind instrument talent in the orchestra has become more and more obvious. After all, the quality of a band is often tested in the wind instruments - the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam can sometimes even surpass the Berlin Philharmonic in international rankings, precisely because its wind instrument lineup has unparalleled expressiveness in the industry.

In order to solve the shortcomings of wind instruments, the School of Arts further formulated a "talent attraction strategy": they set their sights on young Chinese musicians who have already embarked on a professional path and graduated from first-class international colleges. The addition of professional musicians with brilliant academic experience, including Zhang Chaoyue, a PhD in flute performance in the United States, Wang Yuepeng, a PhD in clarinet performance in Russia, Yang Jiazheng, a PhD in trumpet performance in Europe, and Tang Yaoqi, a PhD in French horn performance who graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in the UK, has finally enabled this student band to grow step by step into an orchestra that can perform large-scale symphony performances.

Flute teacher Zhang Chaoyue has long-term experience in studying and performing abroad, and released her personal flute performance album in 2022.

In June this year, the instrumental ensemble composed of 11 students from the orchestra participated in the 7th National College Students Art Exhibition held by the Ministry of Education. After going through a series of competitions from the provincial to national level, they finally won the first prize in the instrumental category. The outstanding results attracted the attention of traditional art schools in the province such as Nanjing University of the Arts and Soochow University.

So far in 2024, the orchestra has completed 4 special concerts at Nantong Grand Theater, "Haobin Summer Night" city stage, school theater and other stages. From school to society, and then to Shanghai, the orchestra has grown rapidly.

The orchestra's gradually gaining popularity has also brought direct benefits to the art college's enrollment. In previous years, the students assigned from the province were mainly folk music and vocal music; in the past two years, more and more students majoring in orchestral instruments have noticed Nantong University, and many of them apply to the school just to join the orchestra. The new situation has in turn given the orchestra hope to increase the number of staff for the vocal parts that are currently short of people.

The school administrators, teachers and students all have a deep love for music, which has contributed to the growth of the band. After getting the opportunity to perform at the Shanghai Concert Hall, the whole group entered a tense "preparation mode".

The band's rehearsal lasted until half an hour before the show, when the audience entered.

Over the past semester, the teachers of each section have carefully corrected the students' pitch, position, phrases and timbre in small lessons. Two months before the performance, the whole group, led by Robert, practiced day and night. Until the day before the performance, everyone was still practicing ensemble in the rehearsal room just before getting on the bus.

Italian operas are romantic, complex and musically rich; the music selected for the concert are all from opera overtures, interludes and finales, all of which highlight the composer's orchestral writing ability and ideas. They not only challenge the musicians' personal performance ability, but also test the conductor's understanding of the works.

On the stage of Shanghai Concert Hall, Robert's Italian musical genes were clearly presented in the concert, winning unanimous praise from industry insiders and audiences present. This young orchestra has finally established itself in Shanghai.

The success of the concert confirmed that the two paths that Nantong University Symphony Orchestra has already taken are exactly what was meant to be expected.

First, performance promotes practice, and practice promotes learning. Through large-scale, difficult works, students' performance ability can be quickly improved, and students can be subtly helped to understand how to play in an orchestra. The current classical music education system has always focused on solo performances. Even in first-class music schools, there is a bottleneck in the training of orchestra talents. The establishment of university symphony orchestras can directly face this realistic teaching dilemma.

The second is to form a synergy between teaching, learning and social forces. A performance model in which teachers lead students is established. At the same time, the orchestra will still open its doors to outstanding graduates from previous years as long as they stay in Nantong to work and live. This can effectively offset the impact of student mobility on the stability of the orchestra's performance.

Many violinists in the band are former graduates of Nantong University.

Although the economic benefits of rehearsing and performing are currently negligible for musicians, the professional background of teachers determines their need and pursuit of professional performances on large stages; on the other hand, after entering the workplace, some graduates work as music teachers in primary and secondary schools, while others teach in social education institutions. They lack the opportunity to improve their professional qualities by practicing in a band, so the existence of the school orchestra provides a valuable stage for everyone.

As the two paths were gradually opened up, the Nantong University Student Symphony Orchestra was renamed the current Nantong University Symphony Orchestra. In the future, they plan to change their name again to the Nantong University International Symphony Orchestra to highlight their unique international background and professional level among domestic universities.

Before the performance, old colleagues from the Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra could not hide their excitement about returning to the big stage and took a group photo.

Qin Fang, who has long retired, has expressed his intention to retire to Wu Rong more than once. He has never forgotten the leisurely mood when he was studying in Italy, sitting on the stone steps of a 2,000-year-old street, eating a piece of pizza, and watching people coming and going. Going to Europe and embarking on a grand tour with no set return date has become an unattainable dream because of his participation in the construction of the orchestra.

After the performance at the Shanghai Concert Hall, he was reluctant to leave again as he watched his students excitedly lift their cello teacher from Italy above their heads, laughing and making noises: "I will really quit when I am able to perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with this orchestra once."

Wu Rong sat in the audience and watched the musicians' performance.

Wu Rong also has her own dream: "I want to fight for a bigger stage for everyone. The cities around us, Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, all have their own city symphony orchestras, but Nantong does not. If this orchestra that grew up in the university can one day become Nantong's city symphony orchestra and the city's cultural business card, it will be considered to have truly established a firm foothold and can go a long way."