This year’s Shanghai World Music Festival will kick off on Oct 18 and continue until Oct 26. It is a featured project of the Pudong Cultural Art Festival 2014 and is being listed in the 16th China Shanghai International Art Festival for the first time.
Conversations with masters
Themed “The Heartbeat of the World”, this year’s festival presents seven top chamber concerts at the Mercedes-Benz Arena from Oct 20-26, outdoor green music festivals at the Dongping National Forest Park and New Hongqiao Central Park on Oct 18-19, seminars on world music, film screenings, and musician workshops that will run for three months.
“No doubt, this music festival will strike a chord in Shanghai’s performing arts market. It brings together 14 music troupes from all over the world and several renowned musicians and performances to lure people into a feast of music, food and entertainment,” said Yang Lei, producer of this year’s festival.
A time to play
The audience can take a stroll through seven concerts featuring classical pieces brought by masters such as German genius Stephan Micus, a painter of soundscapes and one of Europe’s strongest and most original soloists, and the Gochag Askarov & Mugham ensemble, who play a classical genre of Azerbaijani traditional music proclaimed by UNESCO as a “masterpiece of oral and intangible cultural heritage of humankind.” The music covers nearly all types of modern music.
Pudong has been a strong supporter for musical events in Shanghai for a long time. It has introduced world music into financial squares, residential areas and even local counties over the past six years.
As for Yang, the festival is dedicated to conveying the great emotional power and sophistication of music to people, despite the difference in archaic musical language and ancient poetic texts. Music is vested by its inclusive nature with a universal and contemporary appeal. Without going afar, people in Shanghai can now have a chance to enjoy the freshest music.
