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Erika Na

On March 2, conductor Zubin Mehta and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra will perform a concert in Shenzhen, in southern China, this weekend followed by one in nearby Guangzhou the following day.
Joining them as a soloist is German-Korean violinist Clara-Jumi Kang. The programme will feature Carl Maria von Weber’s Overture to Oberon, Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36.
The concerts form part of the orchestra’s spring tour of China and Europe, which also includes dates in Beijing, Suzhou, Vienna, Geneva and Budapest.
The orchestra is the latest prominent classical music ensemble to tour in mainland China without making a stop in Hong Kong.

In 2024, the Berlin Philharmonic under conductor Kirill Petrenko performed in Shanghai with pianist Yuja Wang during the orchestra’s inaugural 10-day residency in China.
The Philadelphia Orchestra performed in Beijing, Tianjin, Chengdu, and Haikou; the Vienna Philharmonic performed in Beijing, Shanghai, Xian and Guangzhou; and the New York Philharmonic played in Guangzhou, Nanjing, and Shanghai. All four orchestras had performed in Hong Kong on previous tours. .
In addition, opera legend Plácido Domingo gave a performance in Macau.
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was founded in 1999 by Argentine-Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim and Palestinian-American author and scholar Edward Said as a way to promote dialogue amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Barenboim, 82, is battling Parkinson’s disease, so Mehta will take the podium in his place.

Eighty-eight-year-old Mehta is an Indian conductor who received his early musical training from his father, Mehli – the violinist who founded the Bombay Symphony Orchestra.
Mehta served as music director of the New York Philharmonic for 13 years – the longest tenure in the orchestra’s history – during which he conducted over 1,000 concerts.
“Zubin Mehta and West-Eastern Divan Orchestra Concert”, Symphony Hall, Shenzhen Concert Hall, March 2, Sunday, 8pm, Xinghai Concert Hall, Guangzhou, March 3, Monday, 8pm.


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Music

Zubin Mehta and West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to play Shenzhen, Guangzhou but not Hong Kong

Zubin Mehta, 88, will conduct the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in Shenzhen and Guangzhou on March 2 and 3 respectively. Photo: Marco Brescia


The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in concert. Photo: Monika Rittershaus

German-Korean violinist Clara-Jumi Kang will join the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for their upcoming concerts in southern China.

How Daniel Harding-led Chinese youth music camp lets rising stars learn from the best

Daniel Harding provides guidance to YMCG musicians during a rehearsal. Photo: Youth Music Culture the Greater Bay Area

Spanish clarinettist Miguel Peñarroja Canós (second from right) rehearses with fellow musicians taking part in the Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area training camp and festival in preparation for the 2025 YMCG concerts in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Photo: Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area

Daniel Harding provides guidance to YMCG musicians during a rehearsal. Photo: YMCG

Harding believes that youth orchestras not only create musicians of the future, but also audiences of the future. Photo: YMCG

Hong Kong cellist Calvin Wong (second left) was the cello principal for this year’s YMCG Orchestra. Photo: YMCG

Peñarroja (right) received the Steven Ying Music Fellowship Award, which helps cover YMCG participants’ flight and high-speed rail tickets to and from Guangzhou. Photo: YMCG

YMCG musicians and faculty members perform at the Xinghai Concert Hall in Guangzhou, China on January 16, 2025. Photo: YMCG

Chinese violinist Zhang Jiyun (left) rehearses for this year’s YMCG concerts. Photo: YMCG

Ukrainian ballet dancers in Japan on war with Russia, their love of Japanese food

Nelia Ivanova is one of a group of Ukrainian evacuees in Japan. A company of Ukrainian and Japanese ballet dancers presented Japanese culture through dance in Latvia – and called for an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Photo: Instagram/nelia_ivanova11

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Emi Hariyama launched Awaji World Ballet in June 2022. Photo: Instagram/awajiballet

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Pavel Kolesnikov performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 4 with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta at Hong Kong City Hall on February 22, 2025. The concert was part of the 53rd Hong Kong Arts Festival. Photo: HK Sinfonietta

Pavel Kolesnikov’s playing of the solo part in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 4 was full of musical insights, but affected by some sticky piano keys. Photo: HK Sinfonietta

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Christoph Poppen conducting the Hong Kong Sinfonietta on February 22. Their performance of Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony showed how much the orchestra has developed musically. Photo: HK Sinfonietta

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The simplest option within Hong Kong to reach Shenzhen is to take the MTR East Rail Line to Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau stations. Photo: Erika Na

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Mehta will take the podium instead of Daniel Barenboim for the south China performances. The orchestra is the latest to skip Hong Kong


Mehta will take the podium instead of Daniel Barenboim for the south China performances. The orchestra is the latest to skip Hong Kong.


Zubin Mehta and West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to play Shenzhen, Guangzhou but not Hong Kong

Mehta will take the podium instead of Daniel Barenboim for the south China performances. The orchestra is the latest to skip Hong Kong

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