Conducted by Liu Ming, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SZSO) will bring works of Claude-Paul Taffanel, Mendelssohn and Dvorak this Friday in their last show before the winter hiatus for the Chinese New Year. Young flutists Min Ruofan and Li Xiaoxi will be soloists.

Min, the newly appointed chief flutist of SZSO, is currently pursuing a doctorate degree at the Music University of Basel in Switzerland. He is also a student of the Berlin Philharmonic Karajan Academy, only the second Chinese flutist to be enrolled in the past 50 years. Founded in the early 1970s by Herbert von Karajan, the academy prepares highly talented young musicians for careers as professional orchestral musicians, taught by BP members. Min received his bachelor’s degree from the Hamburg University for Music and Theater. He was a prizewinner at the Bucharest International Flute Competition, the Elise Meyer Wettbewerb Competition and the Asia Flute Competition.

With SZSO, Min will perform Taffanel’s fantasy on “The Freeshooter,” Carl Maria von Weber’s romantic opera in three acts that is widely considered one of the first German opera masterpieces. While serving as a flute professor at the Paris Conservatory of Music, Taffanel, one of the greatest 19th century French flutists, adapted Weber’s work to help develop the skills of his students. Based on three arias from “The Freeshooter,” the fantasy replaces the voice with the flute, giving full play of the beautiful sound and virtuosity of the instrument.

Li, born into a musician’s family, is studying with professor Han Guoliang of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She came in first place in the junior high school group at the first Asia Wind Instrument Competition in Daejeon, South Korea in 2016 and first place in the senior high school group at the Florida Flute Association international competition in the United States in 2020.

Li will perform the solo part of Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto in E Minor,” replacing the violin with the flute. The three-movement piece, a staple for violinists and hailed as one of four best violin concertos ever written, bridges the change between Classicism and Romanticism, with firm roots in both styles.

After the intermission, the SZSO will bring Dvorak’s “Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88,” a piece not as well-known as his ninth but no less accomplished. Cheery, fun and lyrical, the piece draws its inspiration from the Bohemian folk music that the composer loved. He kept the typical format of a symphony in four movements, but structured them in an unusual way. All movements show a remarkable variety of themes, and occasionally the development of the themes seems like improvisation.

Liu, who graduated from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with a master’s degree in orchestral conducting, earned a second master’s in piano performance from the University of Houston Moores School of Music.

Time: 8 p.m., Jan. 29

Tickets: 50-880 yuan

Venue: Shenzhen Concert Hall, Futian District (福田区深圳音乐厅)

Metro: Line 3 or 4 to Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit D(Li Dan)