Birmingham orchestra tour celebrates a century of friendship

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has just concluded its first tour in China, from late December in Guangzhou, Changsha, Shanghai to Beijing on Jan 5. The orchestra, which is composed of around 85musicians, performed Elgar's Enigma Variations as well as music of Tchaikovsky, Pablo de Sarasate and Dvorak under the baton of conductor Vassily Sinaisky.

"I have performed in China with London Philharmonic Orchestra and Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra many years ago. I am surprised to see that there are many young people come to our concerts during the tour," says the conductor, who has been with CBSO for nearly 20 years. "We see lots of children come to our concerts. Their parents want their children to get classical music knowledge, not just for education but also for moral sense, which is very good for the future."

Based at Birmingham's Symphony Hall, CBSO, which was founded by Birmingham's civic leaders as away of restoring the city's confidence immediately after the World War I, gave its first symphonic concert in 1920 and performs more than 100 concerts each year in Birmingham, around the UK and overseas.