As one of most internationally renowned Chinese conductors, Long Yu has guest conducted in such countries as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macao. Among the orchestras and opera companies he has conducted are Hamburg State Opera, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig, the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, Budapest Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, Le Theatre de Nice, and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Long Yu was born in 1964 into a family of musicians in Shanghai. Early childhood music education from his grandfather Ding Shande, a composer of great renown, prepared him for the rigorous formal music education he was to receive in Shanghai Conservatory and then in Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin.
Long Yu has enjoyed successful collaborations with many of the most world-renowned musicians, including Mikhail Pletnev, Frank Peter Zimmerman, Matt Haimovitz, Charles Neidich and Tiziana Fabbricini. While displaying special strength in opera productions such as La Traviata, Turandot, Aida, Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoor, Romeo and Juliet, and Don Pasquale, Mr. Yu has, over the years, developed a wide-ranging repertoire. He has also produced operas for The Urban Council of Hong Kong for five successive years.
Long Yu’s professional experience and achievements inside China are twofold, administrative and artistic. In 1992, he was appointed principal guest conductor of the Central Opera Theatre in Beijing. In the same year, he was involved in the initiation of Beijing New Year concert and served as its conductor for three consecutive years. In 1998, he helped initiate the Beijing Music Festival and was appointed Artistic Director of the Festival, which has become one of the most significant music events in China and in the world.
The year 2000 witnessed another milestone in Long Yu’s professional career, when he became Founding Music Director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra. Since its inception, this orchestra has performed a regular subscription season in Beijing, as well as undertaking special projects for the Beijing Music Festival. Most recently, he has enjoyed success with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Norrkoping Orchestra. Highlights of the 2002/03 season include concerts with the Orchestra of the Verona Opera, Singapore Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, and the National Opera in Warsaw.
Other achievements include the NAXOS production of Korngold’s Violin Concerto and Ding Shande’s Long March Symphony by Slovak Radio Orchestra. In November 2000, under his baton, the China Philharmonic Orchestra recorded two CDs on the Deutsche Grammophon label: Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture and Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G Minor (adapted by Arnold Schoenberg) on one, and highlights of Chinese symphonic music on the other.