Ono to headline Chinese label's music festival in NY

Yoko Ono. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

John Lennon's widow, singer-artist Yoko Ono, will perform along with Plastic Ono Band at the Modernsky Music Festival, which will be held by the Beijing-based indie record company Modernsky on Oct 4 at Central Park in New York.

"I am happy to be invited," said Ono, 82. "Central Park used to be the place where I often took a walk along with my husband and my son. It's the most beautiful park in the world."

John Lennon and Ono formed the Plastic Ono Band in 1969 to develop their solo projects. Their son, Sean Lennon, joined in 2009.

According to Shen Lihui, a former rocker who launched the Modernsky label in 1997, it's a great honor for a Chinese music festival to have such a legendary star as Ono to perform.

Besides Ono and her band, Chinese rock musicians including Miserable Faith and Chinese folk singer-songwriter Song Dongye will perform along with bands from the West, such as Canadian musician Mark Sultan and American singer-songwriter Ariel Pink.

So far, Modernsky has released more than 150 albums from indie musicians of China and abroad. It has also been promoting Chinese indie bands and bringing foreign indie acts to China via its two outdoor music festivals — the Modernsky Music Festival, which was founded in 2007, and the Strawberry Music Festival, which was founded in 2009.

Since the Modernsky Music Festival made its successful debut in the United States at Central Park's Rumsey Playfield in New York last October, attracting nearly 7,000 people, the music festival has expanded its territory by launching more music festivals in the West.

Besides New York, the festival will go to the Finish capital, Helsinki on Aug 28 and 29, and to Seattle on Oct 11.

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