Debra Li

    SUMMER treats every child to a long vacation. This summer, Shenzhen Concert Hall gives local children a better reason to celebrate — a summer package titled “Happy Summertime for the Family.”

    The five concerts, with tickets as cheap as 60 yuan (US$9.2), invite children and families to a colorful and fun musical tour. Artists from home and abroad will perform classical, country, folk, and rock-and-roll music on strings, piano and voice. The first three of the concerts allow all children over 2 to attend.

    On the night of Children’s Day, I MUSICI, a chamber orchestra from Italy, will bring a multimedia concert. Featuring video clips from classical animation movies, the 12 artists will perform soundtracks from flicks including “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Cinderella” and “Popeye the Sailor Man” as well as excerpts from “The Four Seasons,” a set of four popular violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi.

    Started in 1952, I MUSICI comprises six violins, two violas, two cellos, one double bass and one harpsichord. Led by chief violinist Antonio Anselmi, the team performs on antique violins, including a G.B. Guadagnini and an N. Amati.

    On June 6, Canada’s Barrage will perform a crossover concert, performing American, Russian and Chinese folk songs as well as hits by Michael Jackson and Coldplay. Familiar tracks will include “Jasmine Flower,” “Kangding Love Song” and the Mongolian folk song “Horse Race.”

    The troupe’s performances offer a diverse fusion of cultures, musical styles and incredible vitality. The team combines contemporary world musical influence, layered vocal arrangements and pulsating modern beats and rhythms. The lively cast delivers the show with the kind of energy that will cheer up audiences both young and old.

    “Teddy Bear and His Friends in Concert,” scheduled for July 30, will have Brother Qiangzi (Shenzhen TV emcee) as narrator to an instructive fairytale that features classical music in its storytelling.

    “You cannot sit doing nothing. Even dung-beetles look down on the lazy,” Brother Qiangzi will tell you. In the meantime, Zhu Yibing, cello professor with Beijing-based Central Conservatory of Music, will perform with his students classical music pieces themed on animals. The program will include “The Swan” by Camille Saint-Saens and Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.”

    On Aug. 13, Tian Kong Women’s Choir of Central China Normal University will perform a concert under the baton of Tian Xiaobao.

    First-prize winner at the National University Students’ Artistic Song Performance Competition in 2001, the choir has won numerous awards in the past decade. The group has also released three albums. Their program features Chinese ethnic folk songs as well as ones from Japan, Mexico and Ireland.

    The last concert of the summer will be a concert by renowned pianist Sheng Yuan and his pupil Lang Yueting. The program will have profound and romantic pieces by Schubert and Rachmaninoff as well as lively and passionate pieces by Gabriel Faure and Astor Piazzolla.