Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is one of the earliest and best-known orchestral ensembles of its kind in Asia,through which Chinese symphonic music has developed. Originally known as the Shanghai Public Band, it wasrenamed the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra in 1922. Notably under the baton of the Italian conductor Mario Paci,the orchestra promoted Western music and trained Chinese young talents very early on in China, and was the firstto introduce the first Chinese orchestral music to the audiences, hence known as "the best in the Far East".