Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with John Nelson and Yijia Susanne Hou

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra China tour in 2017 with Maestro John Nelson and Canadian Violinist (born inShanghai) Yijia Susanne Hou who brings the Butterfly Lovers Concerto (China’s “Romeo and Juliet”) back to China, after performing it many times for western audiences.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), based in London, was formed by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagements including the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the concerts of the Royal Philharmonic Society. After Beecham’s death in 1961 the orchestra’s fortunes declined steeply; it battled for survival until the mid-1960s, when its future was secured after an Arts Council report recommended that it should receive public subsidy; a further crisis arose in the same era when it seemed that the orchestra’s right to call itself “Royal” could be withdrawn.

Since Beecham’s death the RPO has had seven chief conductors, including Rudolf Kempe, Antal Doráti, André Previn and Vladimir Ashkenazy; from 2009 to the present (at 2016) the incumbent has been Charles Dutoit. Others closely associated with the orchestra have included Sir Charles Groves, Sir Charles Mackerras, Peter Maxwell Davies, Yehudi Menuhin and Leopold Stokowski.

Conductor John Nelson

Internationally renowned for his interpretation of the large romantic repertoire, including the great works of Berlioz, John Nelson has conducted most of the world’s top orchestras including the London Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras and the New York Philharmonic.  John Nelson’s varied repertoire has also taken him to many of the world’s major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, the Chicago Lyric, the Opera Bastille and the Netherlands Opera. 

Violinist Yijia Susanne Hou

Winner of the Long-Thibaud, Lipizer and Sarasate International Violin Competitions, Yi-Jia Susanne Hou has toured the world as a soloist with major orchestras in over 50 countries, collaborating with the likes of Mstislav Rostropovich, Pinchas Zukerman, Alan Gilbert, Vladimir Spivakov and Marek Janowski, together with the London Symphony Orchestra, Radio-France, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, WDR Cologne, Czech National Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony and Tokyo Philharmonic to name a few.