Soprano: Hui He
Chinese soprano Hui He studied music and singing at the Conservatory of Xi’an. In 1998 she made her debut singing in the title role of Verdi’s Aida at the Shanghai Grand Theater. In 2000 she won the second prize at “Placido Domingo Operalia” International Competition and shortly after performed concerts with Placido Domingo in Shanghai. In 2002 she was awarded the first prize at the International Competition “Verdi Voices” in Busseto. In 2002 she made her international debut, singing in the title role of Puccini's Tosca at the Teatro Regio di Parma. As the only Asian singer nominated in season 2014-2015, she was named one of the top 10 best female singers in the world by “Opera Actual”, the most authentic Spanish opera magazine.
 
Hui He is the only Chinese singer acting as the protagonists of the operas from the Teatro alla Scala in Milan as Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Aida. Hui He has performed in some of the most prestigious opera houses in the world, including Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan in New York, Vienna State Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Arena di Verona, Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Staatsoper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Opera Bastill in Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Palau de les Arts in Valencia, NCPA in Beijing, NHK in Tokyo etc. Her vast repertoire includes the title roles of Verdi’s Aida, Ballo in Maschera, Stiffelio, Attila, Il Trovatore, Simon Boccanegra, Forza del destino, Puccini's Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, and Andrea Chenier, La Gioconda, Cavalleria rusticana, Ariadne auf Naxos etc.
 
She has appeared on stage along with some of the most renowned conductors (Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Oren, Fabio Luisi, Marco Armilliato, Andris Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel). She has participated in productions of the highest level with world-renowned directors (Franco Zeffirelli, Hugo de Ana, Robert Wilson, Damiano Michieletto, Giancarlo Del Monaco, Keita Asari), starring alongside highly acclaimed singers (Placido Domingo, Renato Bruson, Raina Kabaivanska, Giovanna Casolla, Dolora Zajick, Juan Pons, Roberto Alagna, Ambrogio Maestri).
 
She has won many international awards, such as “Oscar of Lirica Award”, “Illica Award”, “Juliette Award”, “Kalaidos Award” etc. She received the award as “You Bring Charm to the World Award” in 2015.
 
In 2018, Hui He continued to be active on the international opera stage, making her debut at Opéra municipal de Marseille as the leading role of Ernani, singing the title roles of La Gioconda and Tosca at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Puccini Opera Festival respectively, and performing as Aida at Arena Opera Festival in Verona and NCPA in Beijing and the title role of Madama Butterfly at Zürich Opera House.
 

Tenor: Gianluca Terranova
Gianluca Terranova is becoming one of the most sought-after lyric tenors with his ease in the high register and great stage presence. In 2010 he had a great personal success on the occasion of his Teatro alla Scala debut as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto under the baton of James Conlon, with whom he also appeared as the Duke at the Los Angeles Opera for his American debut in November/December 2010. 
 
Born in Rome, Terranova graduated with a degree in piano and was involved in a variety of activities in musical theaters and TV programs as an interpreter, composer and arranger. During this time he made his professional debut in Il barbiere di Siviglia in Rome, and was also heard in Nabucco, Madama Butterfly, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Falstaff, etc.
 
In 2008 the tenor attracted international attention when jumped in as Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at the Arena di Verona conducted by Renato Palumbo. He also appeared: as Rodolfo in La Bohème at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, at the Puccini Festival Torre del Lago and at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna; as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, a role in which he would also make his debut at the Frankfurt Opera; as Alfredo in La Traviata at the Filarmonico in Verona and at La Fenice in Venice (conducted by Myung-Wung Chung); as Duke in Rigoletto in Florence; as Tonio in La Fille du Régiment in Trieste and in Como, Bergamo, Brescia. Later he performed: La Damnation de Faust in Palermo; Lucia di Lammermoor in Naples; La Bohème in Venice, at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, at the Opera Australia in Sydney, at the Grange Park London Summer Festival, at the San Carlo in Naples, in Atlanta and at the New National Theatre in Tokyo; La Traviata for Opera Australia in Sydney (open-air), at the Oper Leipzig and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Rigoletto in Venice, at the Arena in Verona, at the Wielki Theatre in Warszaw, at the Opera Australia, in Rome and then in Liege; Simon Boccanegra (Gabriele Adorno) at the Teatro Regio in Turin and in Genoa.
 
Furthermore he has sung: the Verdi's Messa da Requiem under the baton of Gianluigi Gelmetti in Trieste (in the same theatre he sang Un ballo in maschera again under G. Gelmetti); Lucia di Lammermoor at the Carlo Felice in Genoa; Don Carlo at the Deutsche Oper am Rehin in Düsseldorf; Norma (Pollione) in Essen Theater und Philarmonie; Maria Stuarda (Roberto) in Düsseldorf; Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton) at the Dallas Opera in Verona; Turandot (Calaf) at the Atlanta Opera; Il trovatore (Manrico) in Modena and Reggio Emilia; Carmen (Don Josè) in Atlanta; Rigoletto at the Opera Australia; Aida in Nacy (Radamès), to name but a few.
 
He conferred face and voice to Enrico Caruso in the Italian TV movie “Caruso, la voce dell’amore”. In October 2012 he released his first CD “Gianluca Terranova canta Caruso” (EMI). 
 
After his recent success starring as Rodolfo in La Bohème at the Wiener Staatsoper, Gianluca Terranova's plans include: Aida in Trieste; Tosca in Dallas; Madama Butterfly in Atlanta and London.
 

Clarinet: Yueqiang Guo
Clarinet performer Yueqiang Guo was born in a musical family. He was enlightened by his grandfather and began to learn clarinet at the age of 13. One year later, he started systematic studies with Professor Dejun Dong, a famous educationist and virtuoso teaching at Shenyang Conservatory of Music. He was then admitted to Shenyang Conservatory of Music Middle School in the same year.
 
In 2001, Guo started his undergraduate study at Xi'an Conservatory of Music under the guidance of famous clarinet educator Mr. Zheng Chi. Guo held multiple solo recitals and ensemble concerts during the four years in the university, thus accumulating rich experience in performance. Besides, he premiered numerous new works for teachers and students of the Composition Department. His performances were well received and the majority of the excellent works were issued on CDs.
 
During his time at the university, Guo was selected to participate in the 15th Annual Meeting of Clarinet (2003) in Romania and eventually attained Outstanding Performance Award. After the graduation in 2005, he passed the test of Qingdao Symphony Orchestra and took the post of Principal Clarinet after competing with more than ten instrumentalists. In 2006, Guo entered the Central Conservatory of Music (EOS Symphony Academy), which was initiated by conductor Yongyan Hu, to pursue an artist diploma. Two years later, he received a performer diploma from the Central Conservatory of Music.
 
Though Guo achieved a performer diploma, he has continued to polish his skill and struggle for the top of the artistry. In 2009, He joined the 11^th International Music Competition (Clarinet Competition) held in Osaka, Japan and won Silver Award in the G Group (no Gold Award was granted in the group). This has been the highest award ever won by the Chinese clarinet players in the competition so far. After winning a global reputation, he participated in the 2nd International MOZART Clarinet Competition of the Central Conservatory of Music in 2013 and won second place in the youth group. He is, therefore, the only Chinese clarinet player who has won the prizes in the international clarinet competitions in Romania, Japan and China.
 
In addition to solo and ensemble performance, Guo is also an active artist in the field of chamber music. In 2013, he co-founded WOTAN Woodwind Quintet with several young performers of the National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra. In the same year, he held a special performance at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. Today, the WOTAN Woodwind Quintet has become the most active woodwind quintet in China. In 2017, Guo and four string players established a chamber ensemble named “Clari-tet”, dedicated to discovering the classics of the clarinet and string quartet, and broadening the influence of instruments such as the clarinet in China. Invited by the Poly Cinemas in March 2018, the “Clari-tet” completed an unprecedented successful tour in ten cities across the country with Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A Major under the direction of Guo. So far, Guo has been the only clarinet performer who brings this work to the market and gives large-scale tours around the country.
 
Since 2008, Guo has been regularly invited to perform as a guest performer for major symphony orchestras in China. He has been widely acknowledged by many of the conductors whom he collaborated with, including Yi Zhang, Jia Lv, Feng Yu, Yongyan Hu, Yang Yang, Guoyong Zhang, Xincao Li, Muhai Tang, amongst others.
 
In addition to his daily performances, Guo has an abundance of achievements in clarinet education. He was invited to sit on the jury in the First China-Korea Music Exchange Competition in 2015 and to perform as its guest performer at the closing ceremony. His student Yuchen Liu won the Gold Medal in the Youth Group of the Competition. In 2017, he was invited to hold masterclasses in Henan and Shanxi Province.
 

Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra is widely acknowledged for its artistry and well-known in Ukraine and abroad. For many decades, the Orchestra’s activity was a great contribution to national music culture treasury. Since 2005, the Symphony Orchestra has been led by Vladimir Sheiko – Chief Conductor and Artistic Director. He opened the new page of the Orchestra’ artistic activity.
 
The first public performance of the newly created Symphony Orchestra of Ukrainian Radio (Ukrainian Radio-Center that time), which was a notable event in the Ukrainian art and cultural life, happened on the 5th of October, 1929. The Orchestra was a part of the Radio-Theatre and consisted of 45 musicians. The head of the Orchestra, the talented conductor and Professor Yakiv Rozenshteyn, and the best musicians of Kharkov, the former capital of Ukraine, were invited to the Orchestra.
 
Here is one of the articles of that time: "The historical days happened for the Ukrainian Radio-Center on the 5th and the 7th of October, 1929. What used to be a dream came true. The first Radio-Theatre was opened in Ukraine. These two performances were the first attempt of the musical art radio broadcasting. The Radio-Center’s Symphonic Orchestra had made a special impression among all other performers. Some even thought that the Orchestra was composed of the best musicians, the conductor and Professor Rozenshteyn made it disciplined and improved musician’s teamwork in such a short period of time so one might be surprised. This gives us a hope that the Radio-Center’s Symphonic Orchestra will become the best musical unit in Ukraine" ("Evening Radio", newspaper. October 8, 1929).
 
The Orchestra had started its first symphonic cycle with the P.I. Tchaikovsky works, which was opened with the 5th Symphony and the 3rd Orchestral Suit on the 14th of October, 1929.
 
This was the beginning of the Ukrainian National Musical Radio Broadcasting’s history, which was followed by the 90 years of the bright creative Orchestra life that was full of high art and inspiring events. Due to the transfer of the Ukrainian capital to Kyiv and the Republican Radio Committee reformation, the Orchestra was removed to Kyiv and the number of the musicians increased to 60 persons. By the year of 1937, it became the only regular Symphony Orchestra in Kyiv which purely performed symphony music.
 
Radio broadcasts, public concerts, thousands of the world and Ukrainian music records made by the Orchestra in favor of Ukrainian Radio Fund, and the movie records have made an enormous contribution to the national culture treasury.
 
Musicians’ hard work supervised by the best talented chief conductors has led the Orchestra to the highest level of the orchestral art. Mykhailo Kanershteyn, Petro Polyakov, Kostyantyn Simeonov, Vadym Gnedash, Volodymyr Sirenko and Viatcheslav Blinov shaped the Orchestra while polishing its mastery and improving themselves together with it.
 
The Orchestra has developed gradually alongside the collaborations with the prominent conductors of the 20th century: Mykola Kolessa, Nathan Rakhlin, Oleksandr Klimov, Isaac Pain, Genadiy Rozhdestvenskiy, Benjamin Tol'ba, Stefan Turchak, Fedir Gluschenko, Rikkardo Kapasso, Arild Remmerit, amongst others.
 
Worldwide known opera singers and instrumentalists that the Orchestra has collaborated with include Jon Lord (the composer and pianist of “Deep Purple”), Keiko Matsui (jazz pianist), Anatoliy Kocherga (bass), Oleh Krysa (violinist), Anatoliy Solovyanenko (tenor), Zurab Sotkilava (tenor), Tatiana Grindenko (violinist), Victoria Mullova (violinist), Liana Isakadze (violinist), Alexander Knyazev (cellist), Vladimir Krainev (pianist)
.
The titles of “Honored Collective” and the “Academic Status” were granted to the Orchestra for its special contributions to the musical art development.
 

Conductor/Artistic Director: Vladimir Sheiko
Vladimir Sheiko, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra, was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Vladimir Sheiko graduated from the Kiev State Conservatory named after P. Tchaikovsky in 1988, where he specialized in “Opera and Symphony Conducting” and “Chorus Conducting” under the tutelage of Professor Stephan Turchak (Chief Conductor of National Opera Theatre of Ukraine) and Professor Leo Venediktov (Chief Choir Conductor of National Opera Theatre of Ukraine) respectively. Between 1989 and 1991, he was a trainee at the Bolshoy Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Moscow) under the supervision of Fuat Mansurov (Conductor of Bolshoy Theatre) and passed the qualification test of the highest standard.
 
Vladimir Sheiko had been working as a conductor of the Kyiv Academic Operetta Theatre since 1988. In late 1990, Vladimir Sheiko created the first non-state Symphony Orchestra “Ukraine” in the country and together they gave concerts and tours extensively during 1991-2001 (Russia (1991, 1992); Croatia (1993); Austria (1994); Italy (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000); Portugal (1997); Poland (1997); France (1995, 1999); Switzerland (2000, 2001)). During this time, he had also made numerous Ukrainian Radio and TV recordings, as well as CDs. He organized the annual international music festival “Meetings on Easter” in Kyiv (2000, 2001, 2002) and co-organized “Tenoratorio” music festival in Solothurn, Switzerland (1999, 2000, 2001).
 
During 1994-2002, he had been conductor for various theatrical genres in large theatres, among them Yevgeniy Onegin by P. Tchaikovsky; La Traviata and Rigoletto by G. Verdi; Porgy and Bess by G. Gershwin; Carmen by G. Bizet; The Tsar's Bride by N. Rymsky-Korsakov; Il Barbiere di Siviglia by G. Rossini; Cosi fan tutti, Impressario and Le nozze di Figaro by W. A. Mozart; Requiem by G. Verdi; Requiem by M. Reger; Requiem by G. Fauret; Magnificat by J.S. Bach, and many others.
 
From 1995 to 2005, he served as the Chief Conductor of the Kiev Academic Operetta Theatre and conducted 15 performances, amongst which were The Gipsy Baron and A Night in Venice by J. Strauss; Maritza by E. Kalman; The Count from Luxembourg by F. Lehar; Orfeo all Inferno and La vie Parisienne by J. Offenbach, to name but a few.
 
Vladimir Sheiko became the Chief Conductor of Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra in August 2005. Under his direction, the Orchestra performed such masterpieces as Requiem by G. Verdi; Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique” by P. Tchaikovsky; Symphony No. 9 by L. van Beethoven; Symphony No.2 by S. Rachmaninoff; Carmina Burana by Carl Orff; Stabat Mater by G. Rossini; The Execution of Stepan Razin by D. Shostakovich; St. Jonn of Damascus by S. Taneev; Requiem and Davidde Penitente by W. A. Mozart; Le Poème de l'extase by A. Scriabin. He also initiated a series of joint projects with National Radio Company and National Television Company of Ukraine, such as “Art Stories” and “Radio Symphony UA”.
 
Under the supervision of Vladimir Sheiko as a conductor, the Orchestra released more than 300 records for the world and Ukrainian music masterpieces in support of the National Radio Fund. He has also toured with the Orchestra in 17 countries across the world, including China, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Algeria, Tunisia, Spain, Italy, Austria, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Belgium, Romania, Poland, and Belarus.
 
Vladimir Sheiko was granted the title “Honored Personality of the Arts of Ukraine” in 2003. He was also awarded the “Honorary Diploma of the Parliament of Ukraine” and the “Order of Prince St. Vladimir the Great of the Third Degree” in 2005. He was awarded the “Diploma of the Government of Ukraine” and “Insignia of Honour of Ministry of Culture of Ukraine” in 2012; the Order of Friendship in 2013; the honorary title of Ukraine “People's Artist of Ukraine” in 2015.
 
 
Program:
Overture from Ukraine
 
La donna è mobile, from Rigoletto
 
E lucean le stelle, from Tosca
 
Vissi d’arte, from Tosca
 
Un bel dì vedremo, from Madama Butterfly
 
Eugene Onegin (excerpts)
I.       Polonaise
II.    Valses
 
Swan Lake (excerpts)
I. Valse
II. Danse des petits cygnes
III. Csardas
IV. Danses hongroises
 
Merce dilette amiche, from I Vespri Siciliani
 
Io son l’umile ancella, from Adriana Lecouvreur
 
Nessun dorma, from Turandot
 
Viene la sera, from Madama Butterfly
 
(Please check program updates at the concert.)