Ms. Zhang is one of three women conducting established orchestras in the New York area this weekend.
The Qatari group, however, is composed mostly of Europeans, products of solid European conservatories and provincial but established orchestras.
The established orchestras – the Sinfonietta, the London Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic and the Philharmonia – all lost out to the tune of 11%.
Training orchestras often play with outstanding technique and musicianship, and (no doubt because they haven't played the standard repertory innumerable times) a joy and passion sometimes missing from concerts by established orchestras.
Ms. Queler, who established the orchestra in 1971 to present concerts by established opera performers and emerging talents -- including Ren?Fleming, Deborah Voigt and Jos?arreras -- will share the baton with Mr. Veronesi for the orchestra's 40th anniversary season in 2010-11.
Under his leadership, the number of contemporary works in the repertoire has increased, and he has also established the orchestra's first educational outreach programme.
Their performances of L'incoronazione di Poppea and Belfagor in 1971, William Tell and L'Africana in 1972, and other works established the orchestra and Queler as fixtures of the New York musical scene.
In 1977 Mr. Hirshbein and Mr. Schwarz established the orchestra, then called the Y Chamber Symphony, as a resident ensemble at the Y, and within a few seasons it had established a reputation for solid performances and interesting programming that included everything from scaled-down Beethoven symphonies to new works by composers as diverse as Bright Sheng and Stephen Albert.
Mr. Jacobsen said it had grown out of informal chamber music readings involving about 20 music students who, meeting regularly at the Long Island home of his parents, forged ties that the musicians have maintained since they formally established the orchestra five years ago.
