Like many people on New Year's Day, Yu Long is trying something new.

For the first time, the artistic director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra is handing his baton to a guest conductor for this year's January 1 celebration concert at Poly Plaza.

"I keep the idea to give audience something fresh on every January 1. Usually we choose new repertoire, new collaboration between classic artist and other forms and this year the something fresh is I am not on the podium," Yu told China Daily.

Yu's replacement, 76-year-old German-Polish conductor Klaus Weise, is no stranger to the orchestra, having taken the baton of the orchestra in the annual Beijing Music Festival in 2001 and 2003. He has also been a frequent guest featured in the orchestra during the last four seasons.

China Philharmonic Orchestra, which began its New Year's Concert in 2001, will perform Beethoven's Leonora Overtures, and Austrian composer Franz von Suppe's Poet and Peasant.

The concert will also feature tenor Dai Yuqiang and baritone Yuan Chenye. They will sing arias selected from Carmen and Tosca.

Since he won the First Award at the Tchaikovsky Vocal Competition in 1994, Yuan has established a successful career in the United States and Europe, engaged with many renowned opera houses, but remains somehow new to the home audience.

On the contrary, Dai has been very popular in China but only just emerged in the international opera scene. In 2001, his talent impressed the noted impresario Tibor Rudas when he sang with the Three Tenors at the Forbidden City.

Dai has accepted a long-term engagement with the Rudas Organization, providing audiences throughout the world the opportunity to hear the artist. Rudas quickly arranged for Dai's American operatic debut, as Calaf with Portland Opera in November 2003.

His European debut in July 2004 with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden landed him the role of Cavaradossi in the production of Tosca. Last November, Dai successfully performed the lead role of Calaf for Opera Pacific.

In keeping with all things new, pop singers Sun Nan and Han Hong will also join the classical concert.

Yu also commissioned composer Jin Wei to re-arrange Han's popular song The Beautiful Legend as one of the encore pieces.

(China Daily December 26, 2005)