Australian cellist working in China

This was posted to the orchestra-l email list I'm subscribed to, and I thought it was fascinating. Very interesting perspective on how orchestras function in other corners of the world!

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As a young, aspiring cellist there are a few places I thought I might end up: London, Paris, New York, perhaps even Berlin. Over the years this list altered slightly but one place that was never on it was mainland China. Yet here I am trialing as principal cellist of the Shenzhen Symphony orchestra; an orchestra in a city that, just two months ago, I didn’t know existed.

In fact it’s not that surprising that I hadn’t heard of Shenzhen. Just 25 years ago this city didn’t exist at all. It was just a small fishing village on the border of China and Hong Kong. Since being granted “special economic zone” status in 1980 it has grown to a city of 16 million people, hundreds of sky scrapers, thousands of cars, pollution, corruption, 33 billion fake designer watches, and one Symphony Orchestra.

China was never a place I planned to work. In fact I’m still somewhat surprised at being here at all. In 2005, after finishing most of my Master’s Degree in Brisbane (a few papers still withstanding), I moved to Melbourne in search of casual work with the various orchestras there. The move was a strain, I had almost no contacts in Melbourne, no money, and students were few and far between. So I found myself doing what so many aspiring musicians do: working in hospitality. Before I knew it I was drowning in a sea of Mocha Latte and Belgian waffle orders, getting no practice done, missing audition opportunities, and watching my dream fade away fast.
So when the call came through from an old acquaintance in Brisbane that the Shenzhen Symphony was looking for cellists, I put together a CD faster than a brass player heading to the pub after a Mahler concert. In two days I managed to get a decent recording down, having paused only for the occasional train to pass by (which, in fact, was every 10 minutes. They ran within meters of our back door). A few weeks and 140’000 Mocha Latte orders later I got the call: The Shenzhen Symphony wanted me there immediately, yesterday if at all possible. So I packed my bags, said farewell to my girlfriend, and headed to China with nothing but my cello, a few summer clothes, and my enormous Mandarin vocabulary: “fat”, “bugger”, “coffee”, and “Mapo Tofu”.

In a recent edition of BBC’s Top Gear Jeremy Clarkson was heard saying about some nameless car that ‘‘This...is probably the best of the people carriers. Not that that’s much to shout about. That’s like saying: ‘Oh good, I’ve got syphilis, the best of the sexually transmitted diseases.’” So when I was told that I’d be playing with “probably the best orchestra Guangdong province” that exact phrase leapt to mind.

The Orchestra I found myself in is a strange beast indeed. What you have is a full time, full size, fully funded symphony orchestra that evidently has nothing to do. They’re completely government funded which seems to absolve them of any responsibility in regards to minor things, like putting on concerts or finding an audience. In the six weeks since I’ve been here we’ve played just one concert which involved any degree of preparation (Brahms 4th Symphony). Despite also including the Bruch violin concerto, performed by an excellent Chinese violinist, this concert drew less than 200 people.

The other performances have been more akin to pops concerts, and even that is stretching the definition of pops concert. One gig last week had the entire orchestra sitting on a giant platform which actually rolled onto the stage from the wings. We had been hired to play less than six minutes of background music whilst two speakers gave our audience (Shenzhen’s local army divisions) a nice, moral-boosting speech. The stage broke in half during the dress rehearsal leaving the string players in the wings, propelling the brass on stage, and dumping the wind section somewhere in between. The show was abruptly canceled. Prior to this was a special performance for the wives and children of Guandong’s largest cigarette manufacturer. This consisted primarily of Christmas music which, in the true spirit of communism, has been completely disassociated with any form of religious holiday so we can hear it all year round (please kill me).

What makes the above seem even stranger is that the orchestra is actually quite good. There are a large number of excellent musicians from many countries, particularly Eastern Europe. The technical ability of the cellists in my section is formidable and has been quite a wake-up-call for me. The main thing holding these musicians back is money. For many of the Chinese and Russians here this orchestra is the end of the line. Salaries for westerners like myself are reasonably good. Salaries for Chinese and Russians are not. With a monthly income less than that of an underage Australian café worker, these guys can’t afford to travel overseas for Auditions. And they certainly can’t afford the quality of instrument necessary for a position in a professional western orchestra. I am surrounded by cellists who know the complete Piatti caprices by heart, yet whose cellos are literally held together by sticky tape. I was speaking to one excellent Georgian bass player who has his heart set on working in London. In the early 90’s he had finally pulled enough money together to buy a decent bass. Then, during the attempted coup in his homeland, a tank fired a shell on his apartment. It destroyed his house, his bass, and came within inches of killing his family. Needless to say these are experiences that your average Australian musician just doesn’t have to contend with.

Most of the Chinese musicians are wonderful people and wonderful players. Tomorrow we’re due to give a concert of all piano concertos; the soloist in the Mozart is nine, the girl playing the Rachmaninov (second concerto) is just 14. These are some of China’s new prodigies in a country where 100 million people study classical piano. Australians and other western musicians are in an extremely fortunate situation where Chinese orchestras will hire us simply because we’re foreign. It’s seen as prestigious to have white faces in an orchestra here. It is also for this reason that every foreigner invited here is offered a principal position. Hearing the local musicians I can’t imagine that this situation will last for long. Those that believe Asian musicians to be lacking in musicality and adept only at scales and studies are living in a dream world.

I’m not certain what I’ll gain from this orchestra. I had come here hoping to perform some major symphonic works before returning to Australia to audition for the local orchestras. But sadly these works don’t seem to be on the concert schedule. In fact there is no concert schedule. Most of our concerts seem to be organized two weeks in advance at the very most. Occasionally we’re only given a few hours notice before having to perform. It seems the orchestra must play at the whim of any official who wants a symphony at his party that evening. This lack of organization extends to their treatment of foreign musicians. Having been assured a certain salary and accommodation package before I left Australia, I arrived in China to find the details had changed. They tried to offer me just two thirds of the original salary, and wanted me to find my own accommodation. Extensive negotiation followed. The accommodation I am currently in (paid for by the orchestra) is abysmal by Australian standards. I am on the fifth floor of a grey, concrete apartment building with no lift. My front door doesn’t close, the walls are full of cracks and holes, the gas lines leak, and there are live electrical wires running right under the shower. Whilst it’s easy to complain, I was given a reality check when I realized that in the opposite apartment, which is exactly the same size and condition, live ten people.

I’m going to stay in China for at least the next 5 months. Perhaps I’m not gaining the solid orchestral experience I had hoped for, but I’m gaining life experience that I’ll never regret. I have left the tranquility of Melbourne for a city that, in just a few years, will have a population larger than the whole of Australia. There are already dozens of Starbucks here, malls lined with Prada, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton shops (both genuine and fake). Shenzhen is a city growing so fast that “Shenzhen-speed” and “Shenzhen-efficiency” are well known tag-lines in the business world. If the orchestra starts to develop at anywhere near the pace of this city, than it could soon be an ensemble to be reckoned with. Until then, I know exactly the people to call for you next non-denominational-christmas-themed-work-party…

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Charles is currently undertaking a trial as Principal Cellist of theShenzhen Symphony Orchestra. When not in China he works as a freelance cellist and teacher. He has spent much of the last decade at various universities throughout Australia, New Zealand and the UK studying both performance cello and opera, working with ensembles, large and small. Charles has been principal cellist with a number of other orchestras including the Northern Rivers Symphony (featured on ABC's AustralianStory), sub-principal of the National Youth Orchestra of New Zealandunder the special invitation of Benjamin Zander (conductor of the Boston Philharmonic), and principal of both the University of Auckland and Victoria University (Wellington, New Zealand) orchestras. Most recently he was a member of CacoFony, a clarinet trio and winners of the Australian National Eisteddfod (Canberra). For more, visit http://www.charlesbrooks.info