Beijing classical festival looks to grow

When Ge Li was 5 years old, she "made" a violin from elastic rings and a small piece of wood, after watching local musicians play at a concert. As she grew up, she began to study the real instrument at a music school in Beijing, and went to Europe and the United States to pursue her studies in classical music.

Now in her 40s, Ge is settled in the Chinese capital. Although she doesn't play the violin professionally owing to motherhood and a family business, she says she wants to give people hope in their lives through classical music, which has comforted her in sadness.

Last year, she founded the Camerata Music Festival in Beijing, where members of the China National Symphony Orchestra performed at a school for expat children. The festival this year has developed further with a series of events, including master classes and concerts held in May and October.

The ongoing season of the festival will see another concert at the International School of Beijing on Sunday, when the theme of "Love Stories of the Holidays" will be explored by pianist Lydia Qiu, soprano Juliet Petrus and the Blue Hens Jazz Quartet.

"For me, classical music is a lifelong influence even though I don't make a living as a musician. I hope that more children will share the experience of enjoying classical music like I did," Ge says.

While the festival is now seeming to draw largely expats in the city, it aims to get more Chinese audiences in the future, she says.

Chinese-American violinist Gao Xiang, the festival's artistic director, joined Ge's project earlier this year. Gao, who lives in Delaware in the US, will himself perform with Chinese-American erhu player Yang Yue at the coming show. Adapted from Butterfly Lovers, a classical Chinese music piece, the duo will present a multimedia concerto.

"This project enables audiences to enjoy traditional classical music as well as presenting classical music in a revolutionary way, which is rarely seen in Beijing," says Gao, who is a professor of music at University of Delaware.

In the multimedia concerto, Goa re-created a popular ancient Chinese fairytale similar to Romeo and Juliet for Western audiences by combining the violin and erhu (two-stringed fiddle), with two actors onstage and paintings from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) projected on screens behind.

Born and raised in Beijing, Gao left for the US at age 18. His inspiration to present classical music with stage acting came from his parents, both of whom played the violin for movie songs.

"The function of music is beyond entertainment. I try to introduce people to the culture and the music of these two great nations," says Gao of China and the US. "In light of bridging the two cultures, Camerata Music Festival fulfills this idea."

Ge and Gao both say the classical music scene in China is booming with new facilities being built and Chinese musicians performing with world-class orchestras.