The three-week-long Shenzhen Belt & Road International Music Festival dropped the curtain with a finale concert conducted by Hu Yongyan and performed by the China National Symphony Orchestra with a handful of well-known musicians at Poly Theater on Sunday night.
By Sunday, a total of 16 concerts, featuring over 700 musicians from home and abroad, were presented to Shenzhen audiences at several different concert halls and theaters.
The first Belt & Road music festival was a remarkable success in helping various cultures to communicate, said Han Wangxi, secretary general of the music festival’s organizing committee and also director of the Information Office of the Shenzhen Municipal Government.
“It is the first time that Shenzhen has organized such a high-level international music festival, and we are glad to have received positive comments from all directions,” said Han yesterday at Shenzhen Concert Hall.
The supreme quality of the concerts was one of the highlights of the global music festival, said Han. “The musicians we invited from dozens of countries delivered excellent performances for both the local audience and music lovers who traveled from other cities to Shenzhen for the music festival,” said the director.
Apart from the standard classical pieces that won the audience members’ hearts, like the “Scheherazade,” and “Piano Concerto in A Major” by Grieg, Han said that the commissioned pieces had added many innovative elements to the music festival.
“The special contributions made by some musicians truly made the event global and innovative,” said Han. “For instance, the Sitar solo ‘Celebration’ performed by the Indian master Mazumdar and the symphony ‘Far Away Mast’ composed by young Chinese composer Zheng Yang impressed us very much.”
The director said in a previous interview during the music festival that the event would be an annual celebration of music. Artists as well as orchestras from all countries and areas are welcome to join and communicate in the event.
“The success of the music festival has once again reminded us that music is the common language of all cultures and doesn’t require translation,” he said.
