Yu Long

The preeminent Chinese conductor with an established international reputation, Long Yu is currently Artistic Director of the Beijing Music Festival and the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the Shanghai and Guangzhou Symphony Orchestras and the co-director of MISA Shanghai Summer Festival. While Long Yu’s vision and efforts continue to make the Beijing Music Festival the hub of musical life in China’s capital, he tours with his orchestras regularly in China and in major music cities throughout the world.

As a guest conductor, Long Yu has appeared with leading orchestras and opera companies worldwide including Orchestre de Paris, Hamburg State Opera, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Munich Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony. In the future seasons he will make his debuts with NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Montreal Symphony.

Long Yu’s career has included both artistic and administrative appointments. In 1992, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Central Opera Theatre in Beijing and involved in the planning of the Chinese New Year’s Concert series later that year and served as its conductor for three consecutive years. He created opera productions for The Urban Council of Hong Kong for five successive years. In 1998, he led the creation of the Beijing Music Festival and has been its Artistic Director ever since. Under his leadership the Beijing Music Festival is regarded as one of the world’s most important music festivals. In 2005, with the provincial government's support, he built up the Canton International Summer Music Academy and became its Chairman for the following three years. He also established the MISA Shanghai Summer Music Festival in 2010 and later that year, the Canton Asian Music Festival.

Born in 1964 into a music family in Shanghai, Long Yu received his early musical education from his grandfather Ding Shande, a composer of great renown, and went on to study at the Shanghai Conservatory and the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin. He was the recipient of the 2002 Arts Patronage Award of the Montblanc Cultural Foundation. He also has been awarded the Chevalier dans L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2003, the title of L’onorificenza di commendatore by President Berlusconi in 2005 for his outstanding contribution in the field of music and culture. In 2010, Long Yu received an Honorary Academician from the Central Conservatory of Beijing for his great dedication on cultural exchanging and music development in China.