Yu Long conducts a New Year's concert in Changchun on January 24, 2007. [File Photo: Xinhua]

Shanghai-born conductor Yu Long, 45, has been appointed musical director of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

Yu takes over from 70-year-old conductor Chen Xieyang, who has been the musical director for more than 24 years.

Yu initiated the reputed Beijing International Music Festival in 1998 and co-founded the China Philharmonic Orchestra in 2000. Last year he led the China Philharmonic in a landmark concert at the Vatican for Pope Benedict XVI.

"I've been away from my hometown for 21 years and I'm glad to come back at a time when the city is preparing for World Expo 2010, which needs a great orchestra to enhance the cultural image of the city," Yu said on Sunday.

He plans to invite world-famous conductors Christoph Eschenbach and Charles Dutoit to play important roles in upgrading the orchestra, he said.

Yu is also musical director of the China Philharmonic and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra.

"I'm an energetic man, good at time management. I only need to sleep for five hours every day, which means I have more time to work than ordinary people," Yu said.

(Shanghai Daily January 19, 2009)