In tune with young musicians

After postponing its programs in 2022, the Beijing Music Festival, in its 26th year, will return this coming September and October with a special format that combines the 25th and 26th events into one big bumper event.

Usually, the annual festival lasts about two weeks. This year, it will be held from Sept 22 to Oct 15, spanning 24 days and showcasing 25 performances of various classical music forms, including opera premieres, newly commissioned works, recitals and chamber music.

"I can still recall vividly that when we announced postponing our festival last year, we were very disappointed. Now, we are very excited to announce the return of the festival this year," said conductor Yu Long, the festival's founder and artistic committee chairman, at the Divine Music Administration, located inside Beijing's Temple of Heaven, on Aug 9.

The Divine Music Administration was first built in 1420, and is one of the five major structures at the Temple of Heaven, an imperial sacrificial altar. It was the highest ritual music academy for training and practicing imperial sacrificial music.

Since its inception in 1998, the Beijing Music Festival has been held every autumn, making it the favorite season for classical music fans in the capital, as it offers a series of fascinating and world-class performers and concerts.

Under the theme of "Music, Youth, Future, Attitude", the upcoming festival will gather musicians and performing groups from around the world, including China, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain, with an emphasis on young classical musicians.

"When I started the music festival, I was a young conductor with lots of ideas. I am very grateful that lots of people helped me launch the event. Now, I want to do the same by supporting young musicians," says Yu, who was born into a musical family in Shanghai and received his early musical education from his grandfather Ding Shande (1911-95), a veteran Chinese composer. Yu went on to study at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and later the Hochschule der Kunste Berlin.

From 1998 to 2017, Yu served as the artistic director of the Beijing Music Festival.

"The classical music scene in China is at a turning point toward a new future with many young musicians appearing onstage. The future lies in amplifying their voices and reaching a wider audience," says Yu. "The Beijing Music Festival will serve as the starting point for young Chinese musicians to step onto the global stage."

According to Zou Shuang, artistic director of the Beijing Music Festival, young musicians, such as jazz musician Laufey Lin Bing — who has gained a large fan base by combining composition with singing and playing the cello — and young conductors, including Jin Yukuang, Sun Yifan and Yu Ji, will perform during the upcoming festival.

Young soloists, such as viola player Mei Diyang, who is the first Chinese musician to hold the position of first principal viola at the Berliner Philharmoniker, pianists Ju Xiaofu and Zhang Haotian, and cellist Mo Mo, will appear in various performances during the festival.

Zou mentions that besides young Chinese musicians, John Warner, a young conductor from the UK, will lead the Mahler Foundation Festival Orchestra for a concert on Oct 10, which will create a dialogue with Mahler's century-old classical works, by presenting new pieces from young Chinese and Western composers.

"This year's festival will be a true renaissance of musical exchange and a grand gathering of young musicians from around the world," Zou adds.

In 2002, Yu Long first introduced what he says is a "Chinese concept" to the Beijing Music Festival, and since then, it has continuously featured classical music works and newly commissioned pieces by Chinese composers.

This year, the opening concert of the 25th and 26th Beijing Music Festival will be held on Sept 22, commemorating musician Liu Tianhua (1895-1932) and the 101st anniversary of the founding of the Peking University Music Training Institute.

The concert will include the world premiere of the Fantastic Symphonic Suite Homage to Liu Tianhua, commissioned by the Beijing Music Festival and the Beijing Chinese Orchestra, and composed by Zou Ye, based on Liu's instrumental music.

According to Yu Long, music educator and composer Xiao Youmei (1884-1940), who was credited with paving the way for original Chinese symphonic music, cofounded the Peking University Music Training Institute in 1922. This gave birth to Peking University String Orchestra, which was the first professional orchestra composed of Chinese musicians. The orchestra performed music by Western composers, such as Beethoven and Schubert, as well as original music works by Chinese composers, such as Xiao.

"China has come a long way in exploring and creating original symphonic works. Thanks to those great musicians, like Xiao, we have more original compositions today, which speak for our own culture," says Yu Long, adding that the opening concert will combine elements of both Chinese and Western symphonic styles, exploring new methods of blending symphonic music with a Chinese musical style.

One of the highlights of this year's festival will be the Chinese premiere of Haydn's Il Mondo Della Luna (The World of the Moon) in three acts, with performances on Sept 23 and 24, by the China Youth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Yu Ji. Veteran theatrical director Yi Liming will join the production, along with young Chinese vocalists.

The Divine Music Administration of the Temple of Heaven will be used as a major venue during the festival's Music in the Park series. Three concerts will be held during the afternoon, including Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute by guqin (the seven-stringed Chinese zither) player Lin Chen and singer Gong Linna, a chamber concert by musicians from Beijing and Hong Kong, and an art song concert by tenor Warren Mok.

The London Sinfonietta, an English chamber orchestra based in London, last appeared at the Beijing Music Festival in 2012. This year, it will return with a new version of Hungarian composer Bela Bartok's one-act opera Bluebeard's Castle and a contemporary chamber music concert.

"Future and attitude are also two keywords for this year's festival, meaning that we will also highlight innovation, breaking traditional ideas about music, and creating new experiences for the audience," says Zou Shuang, adding that when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Beijing Music Festival adopted the theme "Music Never Stops" in 2020 and led the way into the era of classical music livestreaming and online content planning, breaking boundaries with an unprecedented 24-hour, uninterrupted online presentation.

On Sept 30, the festival will stage Pastoral for the Planet, a visual symphony by Spanish avant-garde theater troupe La Fura dels Baus. The multimedia concert will combine installation, performance, visuals and sound.