- Pipa player Wu Man is Artist in Residence for the 2025-2026 season
- Shanghai Symphony Orchestra begin a four-year project performing and recording the complete cycle of Shostakovich symphonies with Deutsche Grammophon China
- Chinese premieres of works by Alban Berg, Guillaume Connesson and Du Yun
- SSO are joined on stage by international soloists and conductors including Gil Shaham, Louis Lortie, Ning Feng, JoAnn Falletta, George Li, Meng-Chieh Liu, Diyang Mei and Jonathan Nott
The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has announced its 2025-2026 season with Music Director Long Yu, taking place in the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall in Shanghai. The main Hall seats 1200 and the Chamber Hall seats 400, allowing SSO to present both large scale orchestral works and chamber music. The chamber music series and Rush Hour concert series are both performed by groups of musicians from within SSO.
This season marks the beginning of a four-year project which sees the Orchestra perform and record the complete cycle of Shostakovich symphonies over the next four seasons, culminating in a celebration of the Orchestra’s 150th anniversary in 2029. The recordings will be released on Deutsche Grammophon China (DG China). The 2025-2026 season opens with Music Director Long Yu conducting Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 7. Later in the season, Long Yu will also conduct Symphony No. 8 and Symphony No. 9.
Pipa player Wu Man is the 2025-2026 Artist in Residence, performing three times throughout the season. Wu Man joins SSO Music Director Long Yu for the opening concert, performing Zhao Jiping’s Pipa Concerto No. 2. Later in the season Wu Man returns to perform Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Pipa and String Orchestra and the Chinese premiere of Du Yun’s Concerto for Pipa and Orchestra Ears of the Book.
The Orchestra is joined by leading soloists throughout the season, including Gil Shaham, Louis Lortie, Jian Wang, Ning Feng, Rudolf Buchbinder, George Li and Daniel Hope. Throughout the season, SSO will be performing China premieres of works including a concert version of Berg’s Wozzeck, Guillaume Connesson’s Flammenschrift and Du Yun’s Ears of the Book. The Orchestra will also revisit selections from Elliot Leung’s Chinese Kitchen – a work that the SSO commissioned and premiered in 2024 – across two concerts this season.
Chamber Music and Rush Hour Concerts
Chamber music continues to be an important part of the season programme in Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall’s Chamber Hall with a series of SSO in Chamber concerts performed by musicians from the Orchestra. This season includes classical and jazz chamber concerts featuring music by Shostakovich, Mozart, Ravel, Poulenc, Claude Bolling and more.
In addition to the chamber music series, SSO musicians also present 5 Rush Hour concerts this season, all starting at 6:30pm and lasting an hour.
SSO Presents
Alongside the SSO’s performances, the Orchestra also welcomes international artists and ensembles to perform at the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall. This series features artists including Antje Weithaas and Dénes Várjon performing Beethoven’s Sonatas for Piano and Violin across three concerts and a performance by the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Daniel Harding and Beatrice Rana. Jaap van Zweden conducts the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France with Alexandre Kantorow, and Les Arts Florissants perform with conductor William Christie. Sir András Schiff, Fabio Bonizzoni and Pablo Sainz-Villegas all perform solo recitals. The Z+ International Chamber Music Festival, founded by pianist Zhang Zuo (Zee Zee) and the seventh edition of the Shanghai Early Music Festival both return this season.