Vienna Philharmonic set for diamond anniversary concert

The concerts have been broadcast in more than 90 countries and watched by more than 50 million viewers across the globe.

"When I was young, I watched the live broadcast of the New Year's Concert with my family. It's a tradition going on from generation to generation. It's a magical event," says Grossbauer, 41, who was a member of the first violin section in the orchestra and took the position as the chairman in September 2014.

As one of the world's finest symphony orchestras, Vienna Philharmonic, founded in 1842, has built a close bond with many celebrated musicians, including Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler.

According to Grossbauer, the orchestra also keeps up with the times by making classical music accessible to people on the Internet and offering free concerts.

Chinese audiences know the Vienna Philharmonic well. It was one of the first Western orchestras to visit Beijing after New China was founded in 1949.

The New Year's Concert has been broadcast by CCTV since 1987.

Two months before Grossbauer became the president of the orchestra, he came to Beijing.

Clemens Hellsberg, then president of the Vienna Philharmonic, signed a contract on the orchestra's China tour with Wu Promotion, a promoter in China.

"There are an increasing number of people playing and listening to classical music in China. We are curious about the Chinese market," says Grossbauer.