Culture Special: Beijing Music Festival: Harmony of classical and contemporary

Artistic director Yu Long has been with the Beijing Music Festival since its inception 15 years ago, helping it grow into the nation's premier celebration of classical music. Photo provided to China Daily

Premier music gala enriches lifestyle, benefits economy

Along with its rise in economic power, China has also become a considerable force in classical music. Conservatories are full. People flock to concerts. Provincial cities want orchestras and concert halls. Pianos and violins made in China fill shipping containers leaving its ports.

But before all that, there were a few Chinese music pioneers who did much to develop classical music in the country. One of them is Yu Long, the man behind the Beijing Music Festival, the nation's premier classical music gala.

In its 15th year, the Beijing Music Festival will be held from Oct 9 to Nov 2 with the theme "Music For You", offering audiences the festival's most diverse program ever over a 25-day run that will include opera, orchestral and chamber music, vocal recitals and crossovers with pop and rock.

Over the past 15 years, artistic director Yu has helped bring a range of musical luminaries to Chinese audiences.

Since the founding of the Beijing Music Festival, classical music has captured many people's hearts by its genial and elegant appeal.

The 15th Beijing Music Festival comprises 25 performances spanning old and new, fusing East and West. Among the genres represented are operas, symphonies and choral works, as well as solo recitals, chamber music and art songs.

Beginning with classical, then crossing over to popular music, the festival marks a true and joyful celebration.

The Beijing Music Festival has chosen "Music for you" as this year's slogan, hoping that music can enrich lifestyle, and that classical music culture can exist in every corner. In order to break through conventional formats, nearly half of festival concerts take place in a non-traditional venue at a Beijing fashion hotspot - Sanlitun.

The possibilities in connecting with music are limitless.

Highlight

The highlight of the festival this year include complete cycle of Beethoven's 32 sonatas by Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder in seven consecutive nights, a brand new opera production of Savage Land by Chinese playwright Cao Yu, and "Dialogue among Festival Friends" between Cui Jian, Lo Ta-yu, Tan Dun and Yu Long.

The festival draws to a close with a crossover extravaganza spanning traditional and modern, East and West. Former soloist at the Deutsche Opera Warren Mok, Pavarotti protg Dai Yuqiang, and Wei Song who is widely acclaimed as the "best singer today", share the stage with Michael Bolton along with the China Philharmonic Orchestra and Maestro Long Yu.

With repertoires including symphonic classics, operatic excerpts, folk songs from around the world, solos, duets and ensembles, the 15th Beijing Music Festival bids farewell to the audience.

The closing concert featuring China's Three Tenors and singer-songwriter Michael Bolton is exclusively sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Crucial support

Corporate sponsorship has allowed the festival to grow in both scale and stature over the past 14 years.

"We started supporting the Beijing Music Festival in 2011, and we believe that our support helps build a cultural bridge between Asia and the rest of the world," said Catherine Cai, Managing Director and Chairman of China Investment Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which is again the cooperative principal sponsor of this year's event.

"Art and music truly have no boundaries and appeal to all ages and nationalities. It provides both inspiration and entertainment to all. The Beijing Music Festival also brings a number of timeless classics into Chinese modern culture," she said.

A longtime friend of the artistic director Yu, Cai said that she was impressed when he insisted on bringing the Beijing Music Festival to Chinese audiences at the very beginning.

"When he talked about such a music festival 20 years ago, I told him that it would be an enormous challenge," she said. "But he was very confident and I am proud that he has not only achieved his dream but done it in such an inspirational way."

"In the past, the arts were solely the domain of the artistic community. But in today's China, art permeates all sections of society and this is to the benefit of all," she added.

A graduate of Peking University in law, Cai studied for her MBA at the University of Connecticut and started her banking career in New York in 1993. She has been with Bank of America Merrill Lynch for more than a decade.

"Banking can be like conducting a symphony. To succeed, it requires many individual components to function as one. But more importantly, it requires creativity and a heartfelt passion from everyone taking part."

As a longstanding supporter of the arts, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, according to Cai, sees arts as an important foundation of development, both of societies and economies. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has partnered and supported thousands of arts organizations worldwide.

One recent example is the Bank of America Art Conservation Project, which provides grants for the conservation of paintings, sculptures, and archaeological or architectural pieces that are significant to the cultural heritage of a country or region or important to the history of art in order to preserve them for future generations.

So far in 2012, 19 museums in 15 countries have been recipients of the project's support and works ranging from Chinese antiquities to paintings by Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock, have featured.

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn.