Hu Yongyan. [Photo by 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