"The growth of the China Philharmonic Orchestra has coincided with the growth of classical music in China," Yu Long says. "In the early 1990s when we held a concert we had to really persuade people to come and see it. Now our concerts sell out quickly and audiences are getting bigger and bigger."

A new China Philharmonic Orchestra concert hall is now being built south of Beijing Workers Stadium in the downtown area and will cover more than 20,000 square meters. Construction is due to be completed early in 2022, says Lin Nan, the orchestra's director.

In 2018 the orchestra established an orchestra for young amateur musicians, the China Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, which made its debut performance on July 6 last year at the Forbidden City Concert Hall.

On Sept 5 about 100 youth orchestra members performed in a concert held at the same venue, opening the orchestra's new season.

"Though these young musicians are amateurs, their techniques are as good as some of the professionals," says Xia Xiaotang, principal conductor and artistic director of the youth orchestra. He led it on Sept 5 as it performed repertories including The Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky and Peter and the Wolf: A Musical Tale for Children, Op 67, by Sergey Prokofiev.

"These repertories are very challenging, but the players performed them very well," Xia says. "We want them to experience what a professional symphony orchestra is capable of."