Debra Li

debra_lidan@163.com

THE fifth edition of the Belt and Road International Music Festival was unveiled Saturday at the Shenzhen Concert Hall with a star-studded concert.

The Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SZSO) performed the concert under the baton of its artistic director Lin Daye and Eivind Gullberg Jensen, the chief conductor of the North Netherlands Orchestra (NNO). The show also featured Olga Peretyatko, one of the world’s most sought-after sopranos, renowned pipa player Zhao Cong, Josef Špaček, the youngest-ever concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic, as well as Yu Le, a Chinese percussionist active on the world stage.

The concert premiered “Wan Qu He Ming” (“Crane Song in the GBA”), a marimba concerto composed by Ye Xiaogang and commissioned by the music festival. Incorporating the folk music elements of Guangdong Province, Ye meant this passionate and invigorating piece as an ode to the prosperous Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which also expresses his vision for a more culturally diverse region where traditions and modernity coexist in harmony.

Between Saturday and Oct. 30, the festival will present 16 programs in 21 performances at various venues across the city, including Longgang Cultural Center, Shenzhen Poly Theater, Bay Opera of Shenzhen, and Guangming Culture and Art Center, among others. Artists from Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries, as well as France, Britain, Germany, Norway, and others, will perform concerts, musicals, and ballets.

Of all the programs, 10 involve debut shows or artists in Shenzhen. Aside from Ye’s marimba concerto, composer Jin Ping’s “Three Chinese Dances” and Zheng Yang’s flute concerto “Malan Flower Fantasy” will also have their world premiere during the festival.

Between Sept. 19 and 22, a Chinese-language production of the Shakespeare classic “Hamlet” will be staged for four consecutive nights at the Shenzhen Poly Theater.

On Sept. 24, the Hangzhou Philharmonic will perform the works of Ye Xiaogang, Ravel, and Mahler, conducted by Yang Yang and featuring violinist Yang Yoon-jung and pianist Xu Yundi.

Fans of Chinese music will enjoy a concert performed by the Suzhou Chinese Orchestra on Sept. 26 and another one two days later, which features Chinese pipa master Wu Man alongside folk music masters from BRI countries.

On Oct. 7 and 8, the renowned Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet Theater will give four performances of the classical ballet “Swan Lake,” with Tchaikovsky’s music performed live by Chinese and Russian musicians.

Chamber music fans can find joy in a concert by pianist Hélène Grimaud with Camerata Salzburg, bringing the works of Mozart and Beethoven, a concert by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and a sonata concert by the violin and piano duo Renaud Capuçon and Guillaume Bellom.

Jazz fans can revel in a two-day outdoor event at the Guangming Culture and Art Center on Oct. 22 and 23, which will feature the Jess Meider Jazz Standard Quartet, Toshiki Soejima Trio, Kenny Garrett Jazz Quintet, and Magnet Jazz Band, among others.

Another unique show worth attending is “Silk Road Music Legacy” performed by Kazakhstan’s folk music ensemble Korkyt.

The closing concert will feature the Macao Orchestra and mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča conducted by Karel Mark Chichon.

The artists will also give lectures, master classes, and seminars to promote art education in the city.