The evening concluded with a touching surprise: the orchestra offered a specially arranged rendition of Happy Birthday for Lyu's 61st birthday, filling the concert hall with warmth, music, and applause.

"Over these 15 years, I have been fortunate to go along with the orchestra for 13 of them," says Lyu. "We have achieved fruitful results together and the 15 years is also a beautiful beginning since we have a long road ahead."

Looking forward, the 2025-26 program highlights the Dimension of Mozart series, part of worldwide celebrations marking the 270th anniversary of the composer's birth, in 2026. The orchestra will present Mozart's genius across genres, exploring both his complexity and his forward-looking spirit. Lyu will conduct two all-Mozart programs, featuring Symphony No 35 in D Major, Haffner, K 385, Symphony No 36 in C Major, Linz, K 425 and Symphony No 41 in C Major, Jupiter, K 551.

Having earned international recognition for his Bruckner recordings with the orchestra, Lyu will also return to Beethoven, Schumann, Strauss and Tchaikovsky, adding depth and familiarity to the season's offerings.