The financially-strapped China Philharmonic Orchestra will begin its 2005/06 season, the fifth for the young orchestra tonight at the Beijing Concert Hall.

The opening concert will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two and will feature Arnold Schoenberg's "A survivor from Warsaw" and the piano concerto "Yellow River Cantata," a popular cantata scored during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression by Chinese composer Xian Xinghai.

The opening day for the new season will clash with the World Orchestra for Peace that will be conducted by Valery Gergiev at the Forbidden City Concert Hall. But, hopefully, loyal fans will still throng to the Beijing Concert Hall to support, by far, one of the best orchestras in China. They will also get to partake of another important event on this occasion the Ambassador of Italy in China will confer on Yu Long the "Commendatore Dell'ordine al Merito Della Republica Italiana," in recognition of his contributions to the promotion of cultural ties between China and Italy.

It could bring some much-needed cheer to Yu who has been busy battling the financial problem of the orchestra besides preparing for the upcoming Beijing Music Festival.

"I feel very sorry that we have announced the new season just before its start. The world tour at the end of last season delayed us a bit as also our financial difficulties," Yu told the China Daily. Usually, the programs for the new season are announced before the closing concert of the previous one.

"But everything is getting better. Any orchestra encounters such difficulties now or then. The point is to maintain high artistic standards and I am confident the China Philharmonic Orchestra is so far the best orchestra in China, recognized by the Western world," Yu said, striking an upbeat note.

"We have gone through five remarkable years, performing works on almost all important periods in classical music history. We have also held many China premieres and even world premieres, introducing Chinese musicians to the world and bringing world renowned musicians to domestic audiences," Yu said.

Indeed, under his direction the China Philharmonic Orchestra has become a leading orchestra in Asia and its world tours have helped it build up an international reputation.

Yu said while the recent financial problems had affected preparations for the new season, the orchestra continued to maintain high standards as evidenced by the continuing collaboration with big-name performers such as conductors Vladimir Ashkenazy, Klaus Weise, Jacek Kaspszyk and Edo de Waart, violinist Sara Chang, cellist Alban Gerhardt and pianist Lang Lang.

The 31 concerts in the current season include a series to commemorate the 250th birth anniversary of Mozart and one to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Shostakovich. The 22 works being planned will include Mozart's opera "Magic Flute."

Besides concerts in Beijing, the China Philharmonic Orchestra will continue to perform in countries such as Singapore, Poland, Germany and France. It is also planning more tours in other parts of China than in previous seasons in East China's Shanghai, Jiangsu Province, South China's Guangdong Province, Southwest China's Yunnan and Sichuan provinces and Chongqing, Northwest China's Qinghai and Gansu provinces and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Many of the cities in which they plan to perform, especially those in Northwest China, seldom hold a symphonic concert. Yu said the orchestra hopes it can take classical music to as wide an audience as possible in China.

Another departure from previous seasons, where the orchestra performed more to high-brow audiences, is that this season will see more concerts in Peking University.

"Thanks to the late musician Li Delun, many Chinese people now in their 40s and 50s have accepted and fallen in love with Western music," Yu said.

"Now the responsibility of taking classical music to a wider audience has fallen on our generation. We should not only play for a small segment of mature classical music fans but attract more young concert-goers as also audiences in remote regions," he added.

The concerned conductor knows what he is saying. Besides anchoring the China Philharmonic Orchestra which he founded and has worked for from the very beginning in 2000, Yu is also artistic director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and of the annual Beijing Music Festival.

In July, this energetic man established an annual Canton International Summer Music Academy in Foshan, Guangdong, training some 300 young music talents from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as students from Singapore and other Asian countries.

But it's all in a day's work for Yu. "I try to balance every job and do my best in every job. Everyday I sleep five hours at most and work some 18 hours. I am tired but enjoy what I do."

(China Daily September 2, 2005)