In the golden October of 2025, a beautiful season when the national jubilation of China’s National Day coincided with the family reunion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Wuxi Symphony Orchestra concluded its seven-day Russian tour across Novosibirsk, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. The tour came to a perfect close amid the audience’s heartfelt affection and thunderous applause. This finale unfolded as Lin Daye, the orchestra’s Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, explained with a smile the English meaning of the encore piece “Full Blossoms, Full Moon”—”Wishing everyone happiness and fulfillment”—to the St. Petersburg audience, and then led the orchestra through the final note. The entire tour was organized and executed by Poly Armstrong International and Armstrong Music & Arts.
As a cultural delegation invited by the Russian Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Russian National Orchestra, the Wuxi Symphony Orchestra’s Russian tour featured a major highlight—their renewed partnership with the prestigious Russian National Orchestra. Shortly after their successful collaboration in 2024, the Russian National Orchestra extended an invitation to the Wuxi Symphony Orchestra and incorporated the tour into the framework of the “China-Russia Culture Year” activities.
Faced with such an opportunity and stage, as articulated by the orchestra’s Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Lin Daye before their departure, performing alongside a world-class orchestra injected both the “motivation” to push their boundaries and the “pressure” to strive for excellence.
After the tour, this “pressure” has now fully transformed into a solid foundation for the orchestra’s artistic breakthrough—the professional performance of the Wuxi Symphony Orchestra earned high praise from their Russian counterparts. Esteemed figures including Anna Vasilyevna Tereshkova, President of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Society, Oleg Bely, General Manager of the Trans-Siberian Music Festival, world-renowned violinist Vadim Repin, and Yaroslav Zabyalink, Music Director of the St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra, attended the performances and spoke highly of the young orchestra’s professional competence and artistic potential.
During the Moscow performance, the artistic directors of the two orchestras, Lin Daye and Alexander Rudin, conducted the first and second halves respectively. This “joint performance by two orchestras” not only offered a fresh experience for the Russian audience but also served as a vivid and profound portrayal of Sino-Russian cultural exchange. Alexander Rudin praised the Wuxi Symphony Orchestra, saying, “The progress of this orchestra is astounding. They maintain remarkable focus and strict discipline, demonstrating top-tier professionalism. What’s even more rare is that I could clearly feel the musicians’ ultimate pursuit of musical emotion—this is the very lifeblood of an outstanding orchestra!”
What is particularly noteworthy is that this tour was not a routine cultural exchange activity. As a paid engagement initiated by the Russian Ministry of Culture and the Russian National Orchestra, all three concerts were incorporated into the official season programming of local concert halls, promoted under the same standards and ticketed through the same channels as performances by other world-class orchestras. Achieving such high attendance rates in the international concert season market not only testifies to the artistic appeal of the Wuxi Symphony Orchestra but also signifies that China’s cultural outreach has evolved from “demonstrative outreach” to a new stage of “substantive value recognition.”
The details of the concert scene further highlighted the warmth of cultural resonance: after the performance, the entire audience remained seated, rising to their feet in a prolonged standing ovation—full of applause and cheers. This was not only high artistic recognition for the collaborative performance by the Chinese and Russian orchestras alongside pianists Tianxu An and Nikolai Lugansky, as well as violinist Pavel Milyukov, but also a heartfelt appreciation for the stunning presence of Chinese elements during the performance.
As a key cultural exchange initiative under the “China-Russia Culture Year” framework, the Wuxi Symphony Orchestra’s Russian tour received strong support and close attention from cultural departments and diplomatic missions of both countries from its early planning stages. Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui and Russian Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova sent special letters of congratulations, extending sincere wishes for the tour’s success. Senior officials including Zhang Wei, Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Russia, Luo Zhanhui, Chinese Consul General in St. Petersburg, Wang Rui, Deputy Director of the Moscow China Cultural Center, as well as Lyudmila Sirotkina, Head of the Russian Ministry of Culture’s Art Department, and Alexander Alimov, Head of the Cultural Relations Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the concerts in person, witnessing the captivating scene of Chinese and Russian cultures shining in mutual resonance.
The warm invitation extended by the Russian Ministry of Culture and the Russian National Orchestra makes it clear that this tour transcended the scope of ordinary cultural exchanges—it stands as a significant milestone in high-level cultural collaboration between China and Russia under the framework of their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era, as well as a vivid manifestation of civilizational dialogue and people-to-people bonds.
“The joint performances by Chinese and Russian musicians convey the shared values of different civilizations learning from and thriving alongside one another. The brilliant presentation of Chinese compositions and music told a vibrant ‘Chinese story’ to Russia and the world, showcasing an authentic image of China,” remarked Zhang Wei, Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Russia, highly praising the significance of the tour. “The Wuxi Symphony Orchestra’s visit not only demonstrated the cultural soft power of the city of Wuxi but also conveyed to the world the firm belief of China and Russia in jointly building a global community of shared future through the power of culture. It will undoubtedly become another fruitful achievement of the ‘China-Russia Culture Year.’”
