Sydney Symphony Orchestra to Celebrate the 45th Anniversary of Australia-China Bilateral Relations

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra will celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Australia and China when it sets off next Monday on its fifth tour to mainland China, led by SSO Chief Conductor and Artistic Director David Robertson.

SSO Acting Chief Executive Officer John Horn said the tour would be an opportunity to cement further some of the long-lasting friendships the orchestra has built over a number of years visiting China.

"As we look forward to what will be our fifth tour, it's impossible not to be proud of the relationships we have formed in China over this time and the role we have played in helping to strengthen the diplomatic, economic and cultural interests of Australia in the region," Mr Horn said. "The Orchestra remains committed to its role as a leading cultural ambassador for Australia in the Asia-Pacific region and is honoured to be part of this important diplomatic anniversary."

Australia's Ambassador to China HE Ms Jan Adams AO said: "As we near the 45th anniversary of Australia-China diplomatic relations I am delighted that the SSO, an iconic Australian institution, is coming back to China this year."

"Over the past eight years, the SSO has built up a strong profile in China. The company's vision and leadership has helped cement Sydney's reputation as a world class cultural destination."

The tour will see the SSO perform three concerts in Shanghai and Beijing and conduct outreach activities with students at the Shanghai Orchestra Academy.

In a day-long workshop, Robertson and the SSO will work with the talented students at the Academy, selecting three students by audition to travel to Sydney later this year to undertake a two-week performance residency with the orchestra. This outreach follows two successful performance residencies in 2015 and 2016 in which select Academy students travelled to Sydney to work with the SSO at the Sydney Opera House.

Japanese-born American violinist Midori Goto will join Robertson and the full orchestra as soloist in Shanghai and Beijing, culminating in a gala performance at Beijing's National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on 16 September to celebrate the 45th anniversary, the 2017 Year of Tourism between the countries and the 10th anniversary of the NCPA.

In a second concert program in Beijing the SSO will promote contemporary Australian repertoire by performing Nigel Westlake's new oboe concerto Spirit of the Wild, commissioned by the SSO, reflecting the vast Tasmanian landscape and highlighting the virtuosity of the SSO's Principal Oboe Diana Doherty.

The SSO has long-standing relationships in China, spanning education, cultural exchange and four tours (2009, 2012, 2014 and 2015). It has Memoranda of Understanding with several cultural organisations including the NCPA Beijing, Shanghai Orchestra Academy and Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou.

After completing a seven-city tour of China in 2014, the SSO was named the winner of the Arts category in the Australian government's inaugural Australia-China Achievement Awards in recognition of its ground-breaking work in growing the bilateral cultural and artistic relationship between the nations.

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