Principal Guest Conductor

Yu Long

Hailed as the “most powerful figure in China’s classical music scene” by The New York Times, Chinese conductor Long Yu holds positions as Chairman of the Artistic Committee of the Beijing Music Festival (BMF), Artist Director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the Shanghai and Guangzhou Symphony orchestras, Co-director of MISA Shanghai Summer Festival, and Principal Guest Conductor of the HK Phil. 

Frequently conducts the leading orchestras and opera companies around the world, Yu Long found the BMF in 1998, and was its Artistic Director for two decades. He made history with the China Philharmonic Orchestra which became the first Chinese orchestra to perform at the Vatican in the Paul VI Auditorium in 2008. Recently Yu has signed a recording deal with Deutsche Grammophon and started global release and distribution partnership.

Born in 1964 into a musical family in Shanghai, Yu Long 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. In 2016, Yu was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In the mainland, having received the 2013 China Arts Award. He is currently Vice President of the Chinese Musicians Association.