Debra Li

debra_lidan@163.com

Two concerts were staged recently at the music hall of the newly built conference center at the Southern University of

Science and

Technology (SUSTech) to celebrate the school’s upcoming 10th anniversary, which will fall on Sunday.

On the evening of December 6, the venue was fully packed, as audiences enjoyed a balanced program for the festive occasion.

The Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SZSO) performed familiar Chinese pieces such as “Dance of the Yao People,””Ode to the Red Flag,” and “Jasmine Flower.” After the intermission, pianist Zhang Haochen and SZSO presented Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23.” Zhang also performed Schumann’s “Reverie” during his encore. Zhang, one of today’s most sought-after pianists after winning the gold medal at the 13th Van Cliburn International Competition in 2009, captivated the audiences with a unique combination of lightness, poetic transparency and spectacular virtuosity.

Since becoming SUSTech’s first signed artist in January 2019, Zhang has given lectures and master classes for its students.

A week before, on November 29, another concert was staged at the venue featuring pianist Lang Lang, the pupils of Lang’s Music World and SUSTech students. Lang performed works by Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Chopin. He also played excerpts from Bach’s “Goldberg Variations.”

A series of more than 200 academic exchanges and cultural events have been organized to mark the school’s anniversary, including seminars, forums, exhibitions and a photo competition. An evening gala will also be held on Sunday to celebrate the occasion. Established on December 20, 2011, SUSTech is a top-tier Chinese university that excels in interdisciplinary research. The school’s more than 200 faculty members all hold Ph.D. degrees and most of them are recruited from overseas.