"The European audiences were completely mesmorized by him," Zanon says. "European audiences like to hear about the Lang Langs but they just don't realize there are thousands of more performers like him coming up."

Back in the Middle Kingdom, Chinese audiences are more familiar with classical music after almost 20 years of successive acts passing through, however promoters still have to consider the market.

"We first start picking up artists that are suitable for the Chinese audiences and the big compromise is what the greatest performers of the moment and what the audience can understand," Zanon says.

"So before we start filling their ears with contemporary music we have to show them where it all started."

Zanon was born in Vicenza, in northern Italy about 40 kilometers west of Venice and after graduating from high school studied German, musicology and tourism management at Verona University.

He also studied in Berlin and had the opportunity to work with the national radio choir and helped write the musical program. It was this experience that helped him understand the importance of connecting the audience with the music.

"Bach and Mozart were not elitists, they were making their music for the masses, and reaching their audiences," Zanon says.

"When I was in Berlin I got this chance of working for a musical institution not only in terms of getting in touch with a younger audience but also looking at music from a managerial perspective."

But what really attracted Zanon to China was not music or management opportunities, it was purely an exotic adventure.

He arrived in Beijing in 2006 after reading a book about British tour guide pioneer Thomas Cook and was inspired by the Englishman's overseas adventures. "It was sheer curiosity for the exotic and I didn't want a real job. I was just teaching Italian and living in China and it was all so exciting.

"But in 2007 my girlfriend said I had to get a real job so I connected with Wu Promotions and started bringing classical music to China."

This year's annual program offers a series of symphonies and choirs, dance and theatre, jazz and pop, as well as piano and chamber music.

Highlights of the symphony and choir series will include performances by the historical Staatskapelle Dresden, the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, led by internationally renowned conductor David Zinman, and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI.

The dance and theatre program will combine a mix of the traditional, modern and exotic, with the Komische Opera Berlin from Germany, Canadian Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montral, Balleto di Roma from Italy, The Black Light Theatre from the Czech Republic and Mummenschanz from Switzerland all promising strong performances.

"Our mission is enhancing cultural exchange by actively promoting the performing arts, and exhibiting the beauty and diversity of world cultures through global events and artistic partnerships," Zanon says.