The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is China’s oldest symphony orchestra. Founded in 1879 as the Shanghai Public Band, it was developed into an orchestra in 1907 and renamed in 1956 as the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. The SSO has built bridges in recent years between East and West, not least through international touring and its Shanghai Orchestra Academy, a joint initiative between the orchestra, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Maestro Long Yu became Music Director of the SSO in 2009. www.shsymphony.com