Conducting himself with great passion

"Usually, prize-winning conductors are associated with aggressive personalities and showy techniques, like an actor onstage. But I am not that kind of person. I am conservative like many people from the East," he says.

 Lu studied piano from a young age thanks to his father, a doctor and a passionate music lover. When Lu accompanied a violinist friend to an audition for Taiwan conductor Chen Chiu-sen's orchestra, Chen suggested he pursue conducting.

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Spreading the joy of dance

"I knew little about conducting, but Chen was very confident in his assessment," Lu says. "I am a shy person and I didn't like the idea of standing in front of so many people."

He was reluctant to take Chen's suggestion until he had a chance to conduct his university orchestra.

On the night before the performance, he listened to African folk songs at home and unconsciously waved his hands to the music.

"I conducted alone in my room all night. I just couldn't stop," Lu says. He became Chen's assistant not long after that night.

He went on to Indiana University in the United States and the College of Music in Vienna, Austria. In 1988, he participated in a conducting course taught by maestro Gennady Rozhdestvensky and graduated as the only recipient with a Diploma di Honore.

His shy personality didn't hinder his career. In 1995, he began his opera career as principal conductor at the Komische Oper Berlin. Numerous guest performances followed, including the Opera Australia in Sydney and the English National Opera in London. In 1998, he took over the position of General Music Director of both the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie and of the Koblenz Theater.

Between 2001 and 2006, he established himself firmly as a veteran opera conductor through numerous outstanding performances, such as Aida, Ernani and The Day of Madness.

"Media from the West once asked me whether I could do qigong because they thought my way of conducting was so different from Western conductors," Lu says. "I told them that those movements and that energy exists in my blood, which influence my understanding of music."

He is now based in Berlin, but spends much of the year touring the world, including long stints in Taiwan and performing with orchestras from the Chinese mainland.

He took over the role of music director at the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan in 2010 and is upbeat about the classical music scene there.

"Some theaters in Europe closed over the bad economy. But China's classical music scene is very promising. We should show the world our own voice and attitude," he says.