The prestigious Verbier Festival, held in July and August in the Swiss Alps southeast of Lausanne, has announced a surprise expansion to Shenzhen, China.
Shenzhen city
© Guangxi Liu | Pexels
The inaugural ‘Verbier Festival in Shenzhen’ will run for ten days from January 2026, promising some of classical music’s biggest names: Martha Argerich, Lang Lang, Joshua Bell, Mischa Maisky, Janine Jansen and Mikhail Pletnev, among others.
Founded in 1994, the festival has had an ongoing relationship with China since 2003. But this new expansion is significant, with Shenzhen becoming the first city to host the Verbier Festival outside of Switzerland.
Events are planned to be held in the new “high-tech art palace” Shenzhen Longgang International Arts Centre, an arts complex still under construction. The existing Shenzhen Concert Hall will also be used.
A relatively young city, Shenzhen is the third most populous in China. Primarily known as the centre of China’s tech industry, it hosts the headquarters of Huawei and Tencent, and is a major centre for finance and manufacturing. In 2024 the city became the largest manufacturer of cars in China. The port of Shenzhen is the fourth busiest in the world.
Shenzhen is also known for its Window on the World theme park, which includes replicas of famous landmarks from around the world.
“Since our first visit in 2003, we have established a presence in China through many orchestral tours,” said Martin Engstroem, the founder of Verbier Festival. “A whole generation of young Chinese musicians have been educated and performed at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.”
“Now is finally the moment to bring a full presentation of the Verbier Festival to Asia.”
Alongside numerous guest artists, Gábor Takács-Nagy will conduct the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in six concerts.
The venture marks a years-long collaboration between the festival and producer and Jiatong Wu, whose company Wu Promotion has organised tours of China since the 1990s. Orchestras promoted by the company include the Vienna Philharmonic, the West-Eastern Divan, Orchestre National de France, among others.
“Previous turning points have marked the 30-year history of Wu Promotion, like the residencies of the Berliner Philharmoniker and Lucerne Festival,” said Wu. “I am truly grateful now, hand in hand with Martin, to launch this extraordinary project.”
A press conference will be held in Shenzhen in autumn 2025 to announce the full programme.