Welcome the Year of the Dragon with soprano Cathy-Di Zhang and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Xu Zhong. After debuting at Opera Australia in 2020 when he conducted Don Giovanni, Xu Zhong now makes his MSO debut with a program that combines Chinese and Western masterworks. In 2021, Xu Zhong became the inaugural International Chair in Opera representing Asia at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. He is President of the Shanghai Opera House and Chief Conductor of the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra. Hui He, who has been dubbed “China’s greatest gift to the world of opera”, will perform selections by Qiufeng and Leoncavallo. The program also includes Dvořák’s From the New World.

Limelight Editor’s Choice

Welcome the Year of the Dragon with soprano Cathy-Di Zhang and the MSO performing evocative selections by Qiufeng and Puccini, conducted by Xu Zhong.

After making an impressive Opera Australia debut conducting Don Giovanni in 2020, Xu Zhong returns to make his MSO debut conducting this program featuring Dvořák’s New World symphony – voted #1 in the ABC Classic 100!

Join us for one of 2024’s cultural highlights in a program that blends Chinese and Western masterworks to celebrate cross-cultural connections through music.