Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to play at prestigious Lucerne Festival

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will be the first musical ensemble from China to play at the prestigious Lucerne Festival in Switzerland later this month.

Yu Long leads the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland in August. [Photo: China Daily]

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest and one of the best orchestras in the world today, according to artistic director Yu Long.

He hopes to perform with distinction at one of the most renowned music festivals.

The orchestra will embark on a European tour, with a concert at the Lucerne Festival on Aug 20th, followed by performances at Tirol and Grafenegg in Austria, as well as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany.

According to Shanghai-based Jiefang Daily, the orchestra's European shows will be the "highest level international tour any Chinese music company has done."

Few orchestras from Asia have performed at the Lucerne Festival, and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will also be the first orchestra from Asia to play at the new Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg.

The Lucerne Festival, founded in 1938, now stages three festivals every year, which are attended by more than 110,000 people annually.

The largest and most prominent is the summer festival, where internationally acclaimed orchestras and soloists perform more than 100 concerts and events in August and September.