Suzhou Symphony Orchestra (SZSO) staged a New Year concert, the third since its founding, at the Grand Theatre of Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre, SIP, on Dec 31, 2018. More than 1,200 seats were all occupied.

Before the performance, SZSO presented photography props and its performance brochures to the audiences as New Year gifts.

After that, led by John Morris Russell, an American orchestral conductor best known for his association with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the SZSO artists performed a list of classic works like Overture to Die Fledermaus, Train, The Blue Danube and Moonlight Sonata, and two encores in response to the audiences' thunderous applauses. The conductor even improvised a dance before leaving the stage, drawing warm applause and laughter from the audiences.