This orchestra was founded in May 2000 in Beijing, China and is a division of the People’s Republic of China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). It was established on the basis of the China Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, which was one of the first symphony orchestras established in after the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949.
In December 2000 the orchestra’s held its inaugural concert under the artistic direction of the conductor Yu Long. The first season saw them commissioning Du Mingxin’s symphonic Beijing opera Woman Generals of the Yangs and the world premiere of Philip Glass’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra was performed by Julian Lloyd Webber. They went on a world tour which included Taiwan in 2001 and Korea and Japan in 2002 and in 2005 they performed in several cities in North America and in 7 European countries where they performed in 25 different cities. Several years later in 2014 they performed in the United Kingdom at the BBC Proms.
The orchestra has worked with many renowned musicians that include Placido Domingo, Jian Wang, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Gerard Poulet, Lan Shui, Anatol Ugorski, Xue Wei and Klaus Weise along with numerous others.
In the movies the orchestra performed on the music scores of The Touch, Fearless, The Flowers of War, Hero, and of the 2006 Indonesian film Heart. It has also performed on numerous recordings which include Zhong Guo He Chang Ji Pin Vols. 1-5 along with Chinese Piano Concertos by Eileen Huang and the CPO, Dragon Songs by Lang Lang, Grace: A Sacred Cello Collection by Steven Sharp Nelson, Limitless by The Piano Guys and The Myths of China: Timeless Tales from the Shan Hai Jing by Zhang Zhao along with many others.
China Philharmonic Orchestra recordings
Yellow River Piano Concerto (Xian Xinghai/arranged by Yin Chengzong, Liu Zhuang, Chu Wanghua, Sheng Lihong, Shi Shucheng, Xu Feixing)
DG 477 6229 (CD: Dragon Songs)
China Philharmonic Orchestra
Piano – Lang Lang
Conductor – Long Yu
Flute (Chinese) – Chen Shasha
Lute – Wu Yuxia
Sources:
- http://en.chinaculture.org/library/2008-02/18/content_44246.htm
- https://web.archive.org/web/20050419220325/http://www.sarft.gov.cn/manage/publishfile/115/1084.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Philharmonic_Orchestra
- https://nyphil.org/about-us/artists/china-philharmonic
- https://www.itsliquid.com/chinaphilharmonic-mad.html
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-28379855
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/china-philharmonic-orchestra-mn0002206972/credits
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/1626348-China-Philharmonic-Orchestra