Hu Yongyan. FENG YONGBIN/CHINA DAILY

Last year, he was named the principal guest conductor of the Norddeutschen Philharmonie Rostock in Germany.

As for reactions from the parents of other students in the project, Wei Lina, a 38-year-old full-time mother from Beijing, whose son, Liu Yinji, 10, has been learning cello for three years, says: "This is my son's first summer camp and we chose it because of Hu's reputation.

"Usually we travel abroad during his summer vacation. I hope this summer camp will be an enjoyable experience for him."

As for Hu, he hopes that Orchestra Kids will become a regular project and his goal is to have 10,000 children, who play in 50 orchestras.

"For me, Orchestra Kids is my most down-to-earth project and I hope it grows into something like ping-pong in China."

Speaking of ping-pong, he says it was a national sport in his youth. Then, nearly every park or school in the country had a ping-pong table and players were very competitive and skillful, though they were not professional athletes.

But while he hopes that learning music will become like ping-pong, he says: "It's a collective effort to play in an orchestra."

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn