On October 9th, the 24th Beijing Music Festival was held. Zhang Xu, vice minister of culture and tourism, and Wang Hong, vice mayor of Beijing, delivered speeches. Zhang Xu announced the opening of the music festival.
Zhang Xu said that the Beijing Music Festival had a history of 23 years. This period witnessed the thrive of the festival, progressing cultural and art communication between China and the world, people’s richer spirit and cultural lives and people’s wish for good lives. He hoped that in a new era, the festival would develop along with time; expand it’s international influence and tell the stories of China well by communication and mutual learning between different civilization, so as to present a real and three-dimensional China in all aspects and to contribute more to China’s stepping towards the world.
Wang Hong said that despite the pandemic, Beijing Music Festival was held on schedule to promote the spirit of this era by music; to pay tribute to great musicians; to inject driving force to recover global classical music and to contribute to the construction of the culture center in Beijing.
The show in the evening was named “Under the Bright Sun Light” which was performed by Zhang Guoyong, a famous conductor, and two troupes. The first was BMF Holiday Troupe which was China Musicians Association’s philharmonic alliance composed of hundreds of CPC party members from 21 philharmonics nationwide. The second one was a choir from Lanzhou Music Hall. The lyrics covered a large range of subjects. There was “Defending Yellow River” created in the Anti-Japanese War; there was “Story of Spring” showing the reform and opening-up; there was childlike “Let's row our boats”; there was profound “Ode to Yanan” and there was “The Boat in Nanhu Lake, the Cradle of the Communist Party of China” made in the early period after the establishment of the CPC as well as “Keeping the Original Aspiration in Mind” showing the spirit of the Chinese in a new era. Red songs and familiar lyrics indicated that China’s music career was fruitful in every period and the never-say-die spirit of the Chinese nation in every period.
The 16-day Beijing Music Festival would offer more than 20 amazing performances and various non-profit events. The theme of this festival was “great musicians and memorizing” which was aimed to memorize great musicians whose anniversary of birth or death was 2021. In addition, conversation with composers from home and abroad was carried out with the theme “memorizing”. In the music festival, many music would be performed, including those of Guo Wenjing, Chen Qigang, Tan Dun and Ding Shande, a composer of an older generation.