How Daniel Harding-led Chinese youth music camp lets rising stars learn from the best

British conductor says Chinese musicians especially learn from Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area as many struggle to play in a group

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Spanish clarinettist Miguel Peñarroja Canós (second from right) rehearses with fellow musicians taking part in the Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area training camp and festival in preparation for the 2025 YMCG concerts in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Photo: Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area

Published: 7:15am, 24 Feb 2025

When Miguel Peñarroja Canós first learned about Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area (YMCG), there was no question that he wanted to take part in the 10-day intensive music training camp and festival based in Guangzhou, China.

Although the Spanish clarinettist had previously lived in Vienna, Austria – the “capital of classical music” – and was already a working musician playing concerts across Europe, he had seen few platforms that offered the opportunity to train with a maestro like British conductor Daniel Harding, who has been YMCG’s music director since 2024.

The fact that YMCG’s faculty members consisted of musicians drawn from the ranks of the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, among others, sealed the deal.

“I didn’t think for more than one second – I wanted to go,” he says. “It’s almost impossible in Europe to find a festival with these conditions. I’m still amazed and excited to see these incredible teachers, and Daniel Harding, working with us every day, at every hour.”

Daniel Harding provides guidance to YMCG musicians during a rehearsal. Photo: YMCG

YMCG was created in 2017, the same year that the political framework for the newly dubbed “Greater Bay Area” – comprising Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong province – was finalised. The programme was spearheaded by Chinese maestro Yu Long, a conductor and lifetime honorary music director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra.

The “G” in YMCG originally stood for Guangdong but was changed in 2023. The programme, however, which takes place every year around January and February, continues to be presented under the auspices of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province.