Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra

Formed by university students, students from the local primary and secondary schools, the Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO) was founded in 1997 by a group of music teachers and former players from the Macau Chamber Orchestra. Since its inception, the orchestra has given more than hundred public performances.

The Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra strives to keep its initial objectives: to provide orchestral training and performing opportunities for the local youth, exchange their experiences, cultivate and promote their interests, as well as the standard in music appreciation and performance, therefore giving opportunity to develop their musical talents. The musicians receive regular training from instructors from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to its main objective of providing music education to the local youth, the orchestra prides itself on introducing many local talents to the audiences through two annual events: the orchestra’s “Anniversary Concert” and the “New Generation”. Presently, the orchestra has around 100 members who aim to perform to the highest standard and to enjoy themselves playing. The orchestra has a wide repertoire ranging from established classics to new commissions, such as Fountain of Lilau, a symphonic work composed especially for the Macau Youth Symphony by the Macau-born composer Lam Bun-ching.

Besides its honorary music director, Maestro Veiga Jardim, and local teachers, the orchestra has received training and performed with eminent musicians such as Leung Kin Fung, Ye Suh-Han, Li Chuan Yun, Xie Nan, Richard Tsang, Hu Yong Yan, Pan Lin Zi, The Lee Trio (United States), Professor Yves Sévère and Raphael Sévère (France), Edward Tarr (United States), Jeremy Carter (United Kingdom), Matthew Krel (Russia), Akiko Nakajima (Japan), Robert Davidovici (Romani), Christian Schneider (Germany), Elizabeth Brauss (Germany), Lukas Stepp (Germany), Yoram Levy (Israel), Elinor Levy (Australia) and Martin Schebesta (Austria), America String Quartet, Artem Konstantinov (Russia), and many others.

In July and August 2010, MYSO visited Europe for the second time, it was invited to perform in the Young Euro Classic and Music Riva Festival held in Berlin, Germany and Riva del Garda, Italy. MYSO has left footprints in Lisbon, Portugal for the Festival ao Largo and had a joint concert with Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in the Smetana Concert Hall, Prague, Czech Republic. In December 2010, the Orchestra gave a New Year Concert together with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic. In 2011, it gave a joint concert with the EOS Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution. In 2013, the MYSO joined the New Year Concert of the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, playing Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in a minor under the baton of British conductor Julia Jones. In the same year, the orchestra toured in the US where it played concerts in the Kennedy Centre in Washington, in the Merkin Concert Hall in New York City and other cities.

Conductor: Pedro Neves

Pedro Neves is Principal Conductor of the Espinho Classic Orchestra, and was recently appointed invited conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra. Currently he is pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Évora, researching the symphonic works of Portuguese composer Joly Braga Santos.

Pedro Neves was Principal Conductor of the Algarve Orchestra between 2011 and 2013 an is a regular guest conductor with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, in Lisbon, the Porto Symphony Orchestra of the Casa da Música, the Portuguese National Symphony, the Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon, the Beiras Philharmonic, the Madeira Classical Orchestra, Joensuu City Orchestra (Finland), the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra (Brazil) and Real Filharmonia Orchestra (Spain).

In the contemporary music field has collaborated with Sond’arte Electric Ensemble, premiering various works of both Portuguese and foreign composers, and toured Japan and South Korea, with Remix, the resident new music ensemble of the Casa da Música, and with Grupo de Música Contemporânea de Lisboa.

He is the founder of Camerata Alma Mater, a string chamber orchestra based in Lisbon whose concerts have been very well received by the audience and critics.

Pedro Neves studied cello with Isabel Boiça, Paulo Gaio Lima and Marçal Cervera, respectively, at the Aveiro Music Conservatory, Lisbon National Superior Academy for Orchestra and Escuela de Música Juan Pedro Carrero in Barcelona, with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

He studied conducting with Jean Marc Burfin, obtaining his degree in the Lisbon National Superior Academy for Orchestra, and with Emilio Pomàrico and Michael Zilm, of whom he was assistant. This path makes that his artistic personality is marked by a profound, consistent and serious musical interpretation.

Violin: Nancy Zhou

American violinist Nancy Zhou, emerging as one of today’s outstanding talents, is rapidly building an international profile after winning the inaugural Harbin International Violin Competition and the Shanghai Isaac Stern Violin Competition in 2018.

The upcoming season of 2018/19 sees Nancy closing 2018 in a New Year’s Gala Concert with the Harbin Symphony Orchestra/Muhai Tang, in performance with the Shanghai Symphony/Jaap van Zweden, and on tour with Long Yu, where she will debut with the China Philharmonic and Guangzhou Symphony and once again collaborate with the Shanghai Symphony. In Europe, she will debut with the Sinfonica de Galicia in Spain and appear on tour with the Macao Youth Symphony, visiting Portugal and Germany. To cap off 2019, Nancy will make her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York String Orchestra/Jaime Laredo.

Highlights from the subsequent season of 2019/20 include Nancy’s debut with the Kansas Symphony/Peter Oundjian, San Diego Symphony/Eun Soo Kim, IRIS Orchestra/Michael Stern, and Rogue Valley Symphony. Nancy will also reunite with Long Yu and the China Philharmonic on a tour in North and South America. Towards the end of the year, she will collaborate with David Stern and the Osaka Symphony to celebrate the centennial of Isaac Stern.

From an early age, Nancy already gained experience by performing with an impressive list of orchestras. After making her orchestra debut in her hometown with the San Antonio Symphony at the age 14, she went on to collaborate with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Shenzhen Symphony, among others.

Alongside projects as a soloist, Nancy holds interest in chamber music and providing guidance to young musicians. She has appeared in recitals at the Festpiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Ravinia Festival, and the Verbier Festival. From 2015 onwards, she has visited Taiwan for masterclasses and performed in the annual chamber music gala concert hosted by the Playing for Formosa Association. She has also visited the Encore Chamber Music Festival as faculty member.

Born and raised in Texas, Nancy began the violin at age four under the guidance of her father, Long Zhou, who remained her teacher throughout her youth. She went on to study with Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory while pursuing her interest in literature and earning a Bachelor’s of Arts at Harvard University. In 2008, Nancy caught the attention of Anne-Sophie Mutter and subsequently became a scholar of her foundation, by which she received personal support from Mutter and multiple performance opportunities across the globe. Currently, Nancy is artist-in-residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, where she works closely with Augustin Dumay.

Nancy plays on a Joseph Guarneri violin from 1730-33 known as the “l’Ame de del Gesu”, which has been kindly loaned to her from a private sponsor.