Music festival: Shanghai sings the '60s' praises

British singer and actress Jane Birkin will perform at the Shanghai's annual Music in the Summer Air festival. [Photo provided to China Daily]

For the second consecutive year, the New York Philharmonic will offer a variety of concerts, master classes and outreach events.

It will perform two concerts at the Shanghai Symphony Hall, including the opening concert on July 2 and a few outdoor performances.

A highlight is a concert featuring Charlie Chaplin's movie City Lights (1931).

In addition, the New York Symphonic will bring its project Very Young Composers to Shanghai.

Jon Deak, composer and the associate principal bassist of the New York Philharmonic, founded Very Young Composers in 1995.

They choose public school students aged 9-13 to compose music for the New York Philharmonic and other ensembles.

This time, Deak and the Shanghai Symphony have chosen six students aged 13-16 in Shanghai, who have basic training in music but no knowledge of composing.

They will work together from July 2 to 8 under the guidance of Deak and musicians from the two orchestras.

Each of them will write one chamber piece, and the piece will be performed by musicians of the two orchestras at the Shanghai Symphony Hall on July 8.

"We are honored and happy that the New York Philharmonic orchestra continues to work with us for the second year (in a row). We are gaining more experience in management and backstage, which is more than just bringing concerts here," says Zhou Ping, president of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

"Very Young Composers is a new program that we believe can inspire us to explore more possibilities in educating and developing young audiences," she says.

Contact the writer at chenjie@chinadaily.com.cn