Rising opera star Shenyang becomes Montblanc brand ambassador

Montblanc announces international rising opera star Shenyang as its new brand ambassador. The Chinese bass-baritone has been chosen as ambassador for all of its products, including watches, accessories and writing instruments. Shenyang has a long-standing relationship with the brand, having participated in the Montblanc Young Singers Project in Salzburg in 2008 and as the winner of the Montblanc New Voices Award in St Petersburg in 2010 handed over by Valery Gergiev.

Born in Tianjin, China, the 27 year old Shenyang received international recognition when he won the prestigious Cardiff Singer of the World in 2007. This was followed by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2008 and the Montblanc New Voices at Stars of the White Nights Festival in 2010. He is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, the Juilliard School, and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The bass-baritone embodies a 21^st century bridge between the cultures of East and West breathing life into many of classical music’s greatest works as well as into to the vocal treasures of his native heritage.

Shenyang has appeared in major opera houses and festivals around the world, and performed with an array of the leading ensembles of our day, most notably with the Metropolitan Opera, New York in Don Giovanni under the baton of Louis Langrée and in La bohème conducted by Marco Armiliato, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing in Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten with John Nelson, at Carnegie Hall in a performance of Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer with James Levine and Daniel Barenboim, at the Salzburg Festival in a concert of arias conducted by Ivor Bolton, and in solo art song recitals at BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Shanghai Grand Theatre, and at Lincoln Center, New York.

Highlights of his present and recent seasons also include performances of Handel’s Messiah under the baton of Helmuth Rilling at the New York Philharmonic and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the title role of Mendelssohn’s Elias in his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (in Boston and at Carnegie Hall), an international tour performing songs from Mahler’s Des knaben Wunderhorn with Edo de Waart and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and an arias concert conducted by Valery Gergiev at the White Nights Festival.

Montblanc International CEO Lutz Bethge explains, “We are delighted to have Shenyang on board as one of our brand ambassadors. Since we met him three years ago, we have seen his career grow at an incredible speed. We recognize Shenyang’s outstanding talent and his ability to bring music to new audiences around the world, which fits perfectly with Montblanc’s commitment to the support of arts & culture across the world.”

Montblanc’s current arts & culture programmes include support of the Philharmonia of the Nations, the PRIX Montblanc in Berlin, the Montblanc Young Directors Project in Salzburg, the Montblanc New Voices Award at the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg as well as arts education programmes such as the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. In addition, Montblanc celebrates in 2011 the 20^th Anniversary of the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award.