Yu Feng (conductor)

Yu Feng (; born July 1964) is a Chinese conductor and academic. He is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in Beijing, where he has served as President, and is the former President, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the China National Opera House. He was the first Chinese conductor to stage Richard Wagner's complete Ring cycle, and in 1991 became the first Chinese winner of the International Young Conductors' Competition in Portugal.

Life and education

Yu Feng was born in July 1964 in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. He enrolled in the Conducting Department of the Central Conservatory of Music in 1985, studying first under Xu Xin. Owing to outstanding academic results, he completed his undergraduate studies one year early and was admitted directly to the master's programme, where he studied under Zheng Xiaoying, one of China's foremost conductors. He graduated with a Master of Arts degree in 1991 and was appointed to the teaching staff of the Conducting Department, being promoted to associate professor at the age of 28.

Career

Teaching and academic leadership

On returning to China in 1997, Yu was appointed Head of the Conducting Department at the Central Conservatory of Music, a post he held for many years alongside his role as director of the China Youth Symphony Orchestra from 1990. He also co-founded the China Conducting Society (中国指挥学会) in 2004, serving as its president. He holds additional national positions including membership of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (14th session), vice-chairman of the China Musicians Association, and chair of the National Committee for Arts and Aesthetics Education in Higher Education. In December 2019, he led the orchestra in its United States debut at Carnegie Hall in New York, conducting six US premieres of works by Chinese composers. It was also his own Carnegie Hall debut. He represented the music world at the 2014 symposium on arts and literature convened by Xi Jinping.

Competitions and awards

In 1991 Yu won first prize in the China National Competition for Conducting. The same year he won first prize in the International Young Conductors' Competition (Concurso Internacional de Jovens Directores de Orquestra Pedro de Freitas Branco) in Portugal, becoming the first Chinese conductor to win an international conducting competition. The result was widely reported in China as "a victory for the East."

In 1994, he was awarded the gold medal for teaching excellence by the State Education Council's Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation.

He has received numerous honours from the Chinese government, including: Outstanding Contribution Expert of the State Council; the title of National Outstanding Teacher; the May Day Labour Medal of the Capital; selection into the State "Ten Thousand Talents Plan" for leading figures in philosophy and social sciences; and selection into the Central Propaganda Department's "Four Batches" talent programme.

In December 2021, Italy announced the award of the Order of the Star of Italy (Ordine della Stella d'Italia) at the rank of Officer to Yu Feng; the decoration was formally presented in Beijing in November 2023.