VOICES FROM AFAR The 2024 Beijing Music Festival, Closes After Weeklong Celebration

The 27th edition of the Beijing Music Festival, China's preeminent international classical music festival, closed on October 13. With the theme of Voices From Afar, the festival showcased a rich cultural tapestry from October 5 to 13, featuring nine concerts and related events with diverse performances by renowned artists from around the globe. The unique blend of musical traditions and contemporary classical music consisted of live concerts at the National Center for the Performing Arts, Poly Theatre, Forbidden City Concert Hall, and the Temple of Heaven.

The highlight of the festival was undoubtedly the China premiere of the classic American opera Porgy and Bess, at Poly Theatre. The new semi-staged production was directed by Noa Naamat and conducted by Kazem Abdullah, in a co-production between the Beijing Music Festival, Cape Town Opera, and KT Wong Foundation. The Asian premiere of Andy Akiho's Seven Pillars, a virtuosic piece for percussion that was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in music, was also a highlight. Akiho's most ambitious project to date, the piece earned him the Beijing Music Festival's 2024 Young Artist of the Year award. It was performed by Sandbox Percussion at Forbidden City Concert Hall.

The weeklong celebration of arts and culture featured renowned artists from China, France, the United States, Austria, South Africa, and Germany, among other countries. There were performances by composer and conductor Tan Dun, bandleader Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Hélène Grimaud, cellist Gautier Capuçon, percussionist Shengnan Hu, and the Salzburger Camerata. The acclaimed contemporary composers Richard Dubugnon and Zhou Long, among many others, were also present.

Led by Artistic Director Shuang Zou, the festival turns Beijing into an international music hub every fall, bridging China to the rest of the world and galvanizing the creation of Western and Chinese contemporary music. Beijing Music Festival was founded in 1998 by conductor Long Yu - a milestone in China's classical music industry - and has since become the most authoritative arts and culture event in Asia, allowing young Chinese musicians to showcase their talents from a platform with global reach.

To learn more about the festival, including updates about the 28th edition, please visit www.bmf.org.cn/en or www.facebook.com/BeijingMusicFestival