Festivals under the stars woo music lovers

Outdoor events in demand as COVID-19 outbreaks are contained

As the sun set on a hot summer evening this month, a leisurely breeze wafted across Gangzaihou Beach on Gulangyu Island, a short ferry ride from Xiamen, Fujian province.

Nature's stage was set, with an audience of about 600 eagerly awaiting an open-air concert by Chinese opera singers.

The concert, staged on July 20, opened with the overture to Nabucco, Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi's first major successful opera, which was performed by the symphony orchestra of the Xiamen Song and Dance Troupe under the baton of Gao Song.

The evening also featured classic arias from nine Western operas, such as Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet, La Traviata, also by Verdi, and La Boheme by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. The arias were performed by Chinese opera singers, headlined by Dai Yuqiang.

Songs from popular Chinese operas were also performed, including The Red Guards on Honghu Lake, which premiered in Beijing in 1959 to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Earth Building, premiered in 2011 and produced by the Fujian Opera and Dance Theater, was also performed-portraying the history and lifestyle of the Hakka people in Fujian province.

Gao, the conductor, said: "Operatic concerts are usually staged in concert halls. This is the first time we have put on an outdoor show in front of audiences next to the ocean. Nature is the best set designer-we can hear the waves, walk on the soft sand and smell the sea while enjoying the music. It's a whole new experience."

The program, which was also staged the following day, was part of the Gulangyu Music Festival, held on the island from July 15 to 24. It was the first time that the festival, which is in its third year, had featured operatic concerts.

To appeal to music lovers with different tastes, the organizers also invited pop stars, rock bands, jazz and folk musicians, and choruses from local schools to perform.

The two concerts were produced by the Zheng Xiaoying Opera Center, a new art institution launched by the eponymous conductor in Xiamen this year.

The country's first female orchestra conductor since New China was founded in 1949, Zheng, now 93, has promoted opera among Chinese music lovers, supported young conductors-especially females-and focused her music education programs particularly on Xiamen.

She has a special bond with Fujian province.

Zheng comes from a Hakka family. In November 2000, The Echoes of Hakka's Earth Buildings, an original work composed by Liu Yuan about the Hakka people's history and lives, was premiered by Zheng in Longyan city, Fujian. The piece was performed by the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, which Zheng founded in 1998. Since 2000, she has staged the work more than 70 times in total, in countries such as the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Gao, one of Zheng's students, who is a resident conductor at the Zheng Xiaoying Opera Center and a teacher at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music, said: "Outdoor performances have brought opera to more people, many of whom may not attend operatic performances at concert halls. During the pandemic, we have all shared feelings such as anxiety and disappointment, as our lives have been badly affected and our plans disrupted. We need nights like these, with music and nature coming together."

According to the organizer, this year, the third Gulangyu Music Festival marked the fifth anniversary of Gulangyu Island's success in becoming a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.

Gulangyu, also known as Kulangsu, has a history that dates to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It is known for its 19th-century colonial buildings, leafy seaside promenades, white-sand beaches, and legacy of classical music, which are big attractions for tourists.

Gao said, "Gulangyu, also known as 'piano island', has a long tradition of classical music, with many families owning pianos." She added that she loves visiting the island, especially strolling through its residential area, where music often drifts from open windows.

Musical heritage

Shuzhuang Garden, home to one of Asia's largest piano museums, is located near Gangzaihou Beach, where the music festival was staged. The institution exhibits nearly 100 pianos from countries worldwide, providing a glimpse of the island's musical heritage.

Many musicians also hail from Gulangyu, and locals typically become music lovers. Pianist Yin Chengzong, who was born on the island, achieved fame by winning second prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1962, when he was 20.

The pandemic has meant that singers, musicians and assistants have spent long hours preparing to return to the stage, and that they must be prepared to change plans at the last minute.

After the concert on July 20 ended at about 10 pm, many of the musicians and audience members celebrated by taking photos of each other and discussing the pieces performed that night.

Gao said she was delighted that, despite the pandemic, an outdoor operatic concert had been staged. "Being able to do this together-this is the meaning of music," she said.

"As Xiamen remains relatively warm all year round, and the island is quiet at night, we plan to have more outdoor concerts featuring the symphony orchestra."

Thanks to COVID-19 being contained in China, numerous cultural institutions and event organizers are planning productions.

Outdoor music festivals are being staged around the country this summer, and audiences have shown great interest in not only enjoying live music but in getting close to nature.

One of the largest events, the Strawberry Music Festival, returned with performances in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, on July 2 and 3, its first events this year.

The organizer said the festival would visit five other cities this summer, including Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and Wuhan, the Hubei provincial capital. Its visit to Wanning city, Hainan province, was canceled due to the pandemic.

A Long-real name Ouyang Haopeng-lead vocalist, guitarist and singer-songwriter with the rock band Jiulian Zhenren, said, "We planned to stage about 20 shows at music festivals and indie live house venues immediately after Spring Festival, but they were either postponed or canceled because of the pandemic."

The band, from Lianping county, Guangdong province, also includes trumpet player Mai Haipeng, bassist Ye Wanli and percussionist Chui Mi. It gained a large fan base just one year after being launched, thanks to its original material sung in the Hakka dialect.

On Sunday, the band performed at the Strawberry Music Festival in Wuhan Garden Expo Park, its first outdoor appearance for six months.

Other Chinese rock outfits, such as New Pants, Miserable Faith and Peace Hotel, also featured at the festival.

A Long said: "When our shows were canceled or postponed in quick succession, we were very disappointed, but we could do nothing about it. We just focused on trying not to live our lives aimlessly."

He and Mai became interested in making coffee, with A Long opening a coffee bar in Lianping. Meanwhile, Chui Mi started to focus on handmade percussion instruments.

A Long added: "I also started to listen to genres that I rarely paid attention to before, such as electronic music. All of us were ready to return with live shows."

After the appearance in Wuhan, Jiulian Zhenren will perform some 10 shows nationwide until September.

Event postponed

Meanwhile, the Midi Music Festival, due to be staged at Cuiyun Mountain Forest Skiing Resort, Chongli county, Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, on Friday and Saturday, has been postponed because of extreme weather conditions. The event was to have featured more than 20 singers and bands, including some of the nation's biggest rock acts such as Tang Dynasty and Muma.

According to the organizer, the event was originally due to be held in June last year, but had to be postponed due to the pandemic.

In 2000, the first Midi Music Festival was staged at the Midi School of Music in Shangdi, Haidian district, Beijing. Founded in 1993, the school is the first of its kind in China dedicated to contemporary music. Since 2000, the festival has been held annually in cities across the country.

The event in Chongli, the first Midi Music Festival this year, had long been anticipated by fans.

Jing Jia, from Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, said: "About 10 years ago, my friends and I made our first trip to Beijing. We took a 24-hour train journey to the capital for the Midi Music Festival. I watched (Beijing rock band) Miserable Faith, as I am a big fan of the group. I traveled to Beijing just to see this band, and it was the first time that I had attended such an event."

Since then, he has traveled to the capital for events such as the Midi and Strawberry music festivals, but he hasn't attended any outdoor performances for about five years. Now a father of two, Jing was planning to attend the festival in Chongli with his family.

The festival organizer said an area of more than 6,000 square meters had been allocated as a camping zone for fans, which could accommodate about 2,000 tents.

On July 17, the NetEase Camping Music Festival, the nation's first such event themed on camping, was launched by Net-Ease Cloud Music, an online music streaming service operated by internet company NetEase Inc.