Overview

Founded on February 6th 2005, Shanghai Grand Theatre Arts Group (SGT Arts Group) is a non-profit performing arts organization focusing on High Art Development. With the belief of “combining both international and national characters, upholding the principles of being original, artistic and social responsible”, SGT Arts Group takes the full advantage of integration capability and consolidated resources. It seeks to establish itself as a globally influential and competitive performing arts organization. SGT Arts Group consists of Shanghai Grand Theatre, Cadillac Shanghai Concert Hall, SAIC· Shanghai Culture Square, Shanghai Opera House, Shanghai Ballet and Shanghai Chinese Orchestra.

Located in the heart of the city, Shanghai Grand Theatre is one of the landmark architectures with an area of 2.1 hectares, a total construction area of 64,000 m2 and a total height of 40 m. It consists of three theatres – a large theatre with 1,631 seats, a medium theatre with 575 seats and a studio theatre with 220 seats.

As the first international high-level complex theatre in China, Shanghai Grand Theatre has been oriented by its brand positioning of being “international, artistic, classical, and original” since its opening on August 27, 1998, and has delivered a variety of phenomenal performances covering opera, dance, drama, Chinese opera, music concert and so forth. Innumerable world-renowned troupes and artists have been drawn to SGT.  Over 10,000 performances so far have been staged and welcomed 13 million admissions, making SGT a platform for world-class performances, international cultural activities and high-quality art education.

Shanghai Concert Hall, founded in 1930 and formerly known as Nanjing Theatre, is the first professional concert venue in China. It consists of a Grand Hall and a South Hall, accommodating 1149 and 107 seats respectively.

In recent years, Shanghai Concert Hall has devoted itself to chamber music, classical music, contemporary music, jazz and pop music, and has attracted many prestigious musicians both home and abroad. More than 500 top-level domestic or foreign concerts and above 50 art education events are held there every year, and the attendance rate is up to 90% for each performance. It has an audience of 250,000 per year.

Shanghai Culture Square once played an important role in local’s social, cultural life by broadcasting High Art and bolstering international exchanges.

The renovated SAIC·Shanghai Culture Square serves as a platform that integrates modern performances, art exhibitions and cultural experiences, focusing primarily on staging musicals followed by a variety of modern and classic works. It is committed to become a foster for musical plays, a vane of musical industry and a landmark of culture and arts.

In the last eight years, the Square presented 521 repertories and approximately 2060 fabulous performances, attracting more than 2.4 million admissions with 73% average attendance rate. Musicals and stage plays contributed over 1519 performances, constituting 74% of the total performances. 1,529 public activities were initiated and engaged 253,748 admissions.

Established in 1956, Shanghai Opera House (SOH) boasts an opera troupe, a choir, a dance troupe and a symphony orchestra. It has always positioned itself as a diverse, pioneering and sophisticated powerhouse for arts over the years and has thus brought up a generation of celebrated artists, such as Ren Guizhen, Shi Hong'e, Li Zhonglin and Shu Qiao. Over the past six decades, 47 repertoires produced by (SOH) have reaped a total of 67 awards at competitions home and abroad. Meanwhile, 25 people have won prizes at international competitions and 174 people have claimed provincial-level or above awards. SOH has also attended prominent international art festivals, such as Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland, Dalhalla Art Festival in Sweden and Saaremaa Opera Festival in Estonia.

Shanghai Ballet was founded in 1979, originally composed of the crew from the premier ballet title “The White-Haired Girl”. With its international philosophy, professional expertise and market-oriented operation, Shanghai Ballet has been reckoned as China’s top-level ballet troupe. It possesses 167 original ballet works that bring numerous ballet dancers under spotlights, including Shi Zhongqing, Mao Huifang and Ling Guiming starred in “The White-Haired Girl”, prominent ballet artists Xin Lili, Wang Qifeng and Yang Xinhua, and stellar performers Fan Xiaofeng, Wu Husheng and Qi Bingxue. The troupe has so far harvested 52 medals at international ballet competitions and 70 professional awards at home. Over the past five years, it has held over 100 performances throughout the country annually and toured to Europe and the US with almost 170 performances per year.

Founded in 1952, the Shanghai Chinese Traditional Orchestra is the earliest large-scale modern ethnic orchestra in China. SHCO has witnessed the emergence of distinguished artists, including Zhang Ziqian, Lu Chunlin, Sun Yude, Gong Yi, Gu Guanren, Min Huifen, Yu Xunfa, who made significant contributions to the development of ethnic music in China. 22 of its repertoires have harvested 27 prizes both in domestic and international competitions. 80 people have been awarded with international and provincial-level or above prizes. SHCO has been invited to perform at prestigious art festivals both home and abroad, such as Shanghai International Art Festival, `The Spring of Shanghai` International Music Festival, Euroradio Folk Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Germany and Cervantes International Art Festival.