On February 17, 2023, the seventh annual 2023 Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area (YMCG) hosted an informative and inspiring virtual performance and panel session with Long Yu and Daniel Harding, moderated by Zhai Jia.

Part of YMCG’s celebrated 'Music + Dialogue' series and recorded at Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra’s (GSO) recital hall, the Music Dialogue Global Link event opened with riveting music. Performers from Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou came together to perform selections from Olli Mustonen’s Nonet for Strings No 2.

Since YMCG’s first instalment of 'Music + Dialogue' over the pandemic, the series has garnered international attention. For 2023, moderator Zhai Jia led a special panel conversation between Long Yu – chairman of the YMCG Artistic Committee and Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra Music Director – and Daniel Harding, conductor and YMCG Music Director Designate.

Long Yu and Daniel Harding discuss the many identities open to musicians, digging deep to find courage in performance, and exploring the intersections of music and culture.

This discussion was part of YMCG 2023, which took place between February 13 and 21 in Guangzhou. During that time, the internationally distinguished Shanghai Quartet, as well as musicians from professional ensembles and orchestral principals from Beijing, Shanghai, and cities in the Greater Bay Area – Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macao – served as faculty and took part in performances. At the same time, young musicians from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), along with those from the Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Sichuan conservatories of music, sat side by side with professional musicians to rehearse, perform, and engage in cultural exchange.

Music Dialogue Global Link for 2023 was streamed globally on February 21, 2023 and is available on demand below.

Find out more about Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area at ymcgchina.com