Cellist Yibai Chen joins the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Xiao’ou Zhao for a performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, part of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music’s Contemporary Music Festival.

One of the most celebrated works of the 20th-century cello repertoire, Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major is renowned for its emotional intensity and virtuosic demands. Written for Mstislav Rostropovich in 1959, the work showcases both power and introspection, qualities that Yibai Chen brings to the stage with refined expressivity and technical brilliance.