United by music

Soon after, in a room in London in which she did an audition, the Chinese maestro Xu Zhong immediately offered her a job, much to her surprise, and after a lot of discussion with friends and family she decided to seize the opportunity.

"It's a once in a lifetime experience to move to a new continent and be a part of the birth of a new orchestra," says Whitney, 30, originally from Bristol, southwestern England.

When she was 8, she started to learn the French horn and went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. She then did a master's degree in orchestral playing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Before joining the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, founded on Nov 18, 2016, she was a freelance player in Britain, performing and touring with most of the main orchestras, such as the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and BBC Symphony.

She has now worked in Suzhou for a year and says she has enjoyed spending time with her international colleagues and getting to try many new kinds of food, such as hotpot and dumplings, especially juicy xiaolongbao (small, steamed, meat-filled soup dumplings).