Slew of new productions to be staged at Shanghai festival

A number of new productions will be premiered at the upcoming China Shanghai International Arts Festival, which runs from Oct 19 to Nov 22.

This year's annual celebration of the performing arts in Shanghai marks the 20th anniversary of the event.

"The festival has become a major showcase of Shanghai's culture, and we hope to continue to bring out new and high quality cultural products, and play an active part in the city's efforts to becoming Asia's capital of the performing arts," says Wang Jun, president of the CSIAF organizing committee.

This year's program consists of 45 productions, 25 of which are from abroad.

Twenty-three new productions will be premiered at the CSIAF. The opening show will be a symphony concert on China's mythology commissioned by the festival.

The concert, composed by Ye Xiaogang, will be presented by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra under maestro Yu Long, and features vocal artists like Shi Yijie, Liao Changyong and Shen Yang.

This year the festival has commissioned nine productions from Shanghai. Among them is one recommended by Wang-an original opera The Painted Skin, composed by Hao Weiya, and directed by Yi Liming.

The opera is based on a ghost story by Pu Songling written in the 17th century.

"It is a pioneering opera, full of the poetic quality of Chinese culture, and at the same time full of dramatic conflicts and tension," says Wang.

Mao Shanyu, a Huju Opera artist and director of the Shanghai Huju Opera Troupe, will present a play based on the life of Fan Jinshi, who dedicated her life and career to the study and protection of the ancient caves of Dunhuang in Gansu province.