Beijing Modern Music Festival concludes

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02:24

The closing ceremony of the 2019 Beijing Modern Music Festival was held at the Central Conservatory of Music on Saturday.

Titled "The River of Spring," the festival presented the most prestigious opera and orchestral works composed between 2005 and this year, featuring composers Hao Weiya, Yao Chen and more.

These pieces were inspired by Chinese poetry, landscapes, traditional opera, music and films.

"The concert started with a 15-minute segment from my 2014 opera, which was inspired by the 1947 film 'The Spring River Flows East'. I'm very impressed to see the festival showcasing more diversified Chinese music with a more open mind," Hao Weiya, composer of "The River of Spring" said.

Artists perform "The River of Spring" at the 2019 Beijing Modern Music Festival, Beijing, May 25, 2019. /CGTN Photo

"I attended the festival more than 10 years ago and it is my second time here. I wrote the piece in the mood of nostalgia when I was studying at the University of Chicago in 2005. I have studied Western classical music, and I have strengthened my self-recognition of our own culture. That is very important to me," Yao Chen, composer of "Two Poems" said.

The Beijing Modern Music Festival is a part of the annual World New Music Days of the International Society for Contemporary Music. This is the second year China has hosted the event.

"The history of symphonic music in China is less than a century old, but we have made enormous development in this field. The festival is a platform for international musicians and enthusiasts to get to know today's Chinese music and vice versa," Ye Xiaogang, artistic director of Beijing Modern Music Festival said.

In its 16th edition, the Beijing Modern Music Festival was dedicated to promoting talented Chinese composers and musicians, and Ye said he will keep up this pace.

Starting May 19, the week-long festival saw orchestras, composers and experts from France, Poland, the Netherlands, Ireland and China gathering in Beijing for a series of mind-blowing concerts, master classes and lectures. The finale concert held on May 25 celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.