UNITED NATIONS OF MUSIC

As professional orchestras spring up like mushrooms around China, musicians from overseas are making their way to the country to make the most of new opportunities

Emma Jane Whitney's debut with the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra a couple of years ago was far from the fanfare performance she might have imagined beforehand. Instead it was more akin to being thrown under a cold shower when you are half awake.

An 11-hour flight that was supposed to deliver the British French horn player to the Chinese city in plenty of time for her first rehearsal with the orchestra turned into a 30-hour odyssey because of a flight delay, and when she finally arrived in Suzhou she was exhausted.