Beijing Music Festival
[citation needed] According to Chinaculture.org notable performers that have appeared at the festival include Martha Argerich, Pinchas Zukerman, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Emanuel Ax, Murray Perahia, Julian Lloyd Webber, Maxim Vengerov, Christoph Eschenbach, Tan Dun, Kathleen Battle, Du Yun, José Carreras, Sarah Chang, Augustin Dumay, Valery Gergiev, Mischa Maisky, Krzysztof Penderecki, Isaac Stern, Melvyn Tan, Fou Ts'ong, the Kodály Quartet, and the New London Consort.
[5] The festival encourages the production of both Western and Chinese contemporary music presenting premieres and commissions by composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Philip Glass, Guo Wenjing, Ye Xiaogang, Tan Dun, and Howard Shore.
[citation needed] According to CCTV BMF's 18th festival, held from October 8–24, 2015, included 18 performances by artists from over 30 countries and regions.
[7] The theme was "Revel in Romance" and focused on monumental works on opposite sides of the Romantic music spectrum – Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner.
[10] Other performances included Mozart's Don Giovanni presented as an immersive theatrical experience with visual effects; Blank Out, a 3D mini opera by Dutch composer Michel van der Aa; and the complete symphonic works of Tchaikovsky.
[11] Highlights of the 41 events and outreach activities included an 11-hour orchestral marathon with nine Chinese symphony orchestras, [12] a joint production with Salzburg Easter Festival of Richard Wagner's opera Die Walküre with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden,[13] and the premiere of Qigang Chen's Violin Concerto by violinist Maxim Vengerov at the closing concert.
[citation needed] Outreach events including the world premiere of the immersive opera, Orfeo, by Fay Kueen Wang a musical theater adaptation of Leoš Janácek's song cycle, The Diary of One Who Disappeared;[14] George Benjamin's Written on Skin; The Orphan of Zhao;[15] and two concerts celebrating Leonard Bernstein's centenary.
[18] Additional performances included the Asian premiere of Eight, a mixed-reality musical theater work written by Michel van der Aa and co-commissioned by BMF; the 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Angel's Bone by Du Yun; and the China premiere of Handel's Xerxes performed by Opera Fuoco and David Stern.
Other concerts included several children's concert including a performance of Karen LeFrak's "Sleepover at the Museum"; a celebration of Beethoven's 250th anniversary including all ten of his violin sonatas, 32 piano sonatas, five piano concertos, and nine symphonies; a documentary in memory of conductor and composer Krzysztof Penderecki; the BMF debut of the Suzhou Chinese Orchestra; ten Music at Noon concerts;[23] and the festival closing performance in celebration of China Philharmonic's 20th anniversary with five 20-year-old Chinese artists joining.
At a September 26 jazz concert, the Icelandic cellist and singer Laufey Lin performed with the China Philharmonic Orchestra under Jin Yukuang.
[30] The festival also programmed the symphonic dance The Monkey King, composed by Liu Sola and inspired by the classic animated movie.
On September 30, Beijing's Poly Theatre staged Pastoral for the Planet, a visual symphony by the Spanish avant-garde theater troupe La Fura dels Baus.
"[35] BMF commissioned the opera, Song of Farewell by Ye Xiaogang, and gave the world premiere during the closing concerts of the 13th festival, October 30 and 31, 2010.
