In a Monday (8/15) blog post on the WQXR website, Brian Wise writes, “China’s rising voice in classical music may soon come with a New York accent. In what appears to be a pioneering venture for both parties, the New York Philharmonic has signed an agreement with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to collaborate on a new orchestral training institute in Shanghai, as well as a series of touring exchanges and joint commissioning of new works. The training institute, set to launch in 2013 around the opening of a new concert hall for the Shanghai Symphony, will provide a graduate-level music instruction for 20 to 30 students. Every two to three months, groups of New York Philharmonic musicians and staff will travel to Shanghai where they will provide master classes and other intensive sessions, said Anastasia Boudanoque, a manager at Columbia Artists Management, which represents the Shanghai Symphony’s touring activities. ‘The idea is to bridge the gap in training,’ said Boudanoque. ‘The Chinese system is modeled on the Russian system, which doesn’t really train people to be an orchestral musician. You’re groomed to be a soloist. But there’s no actual training to create orchestral players.’ … This summer, Shanghai has unveiled a large new arts district dominated by a 2,000-seat concert hall.”
Posted August 17, 2011
