On November 20^th, a press conference was held in the NCPA Press Room for the “Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music 2019”. The conference was attended by, among others, ZHU Jing, NCPA Vice President, TAN Lihua, a conductor and Vice President of the Chinese Musicians Association, CHEN Guangxian, President of the China Symphony Development Foundation, Director of the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, Vice President of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Foundation and a director of the Chinese Musicians Association, and ZHANG Yi, Music Director of the National Ballet of China, Artistic Director of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra. At the conference, NCPA Vice President ZHU Jing declared that the three-day Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music 2019 would be kicked off at the NCPA on November 26^th. She gave the media a detailed account of the forum.

A press conference was held in the NCPA Press Room for the “Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music 2019”.

Photo by NIU Xiaobei

Initiated and hosted by the NCPA, in line with the principles of going international, open and forward-looking, the “Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music 2019” aims to build a high-level international platform for exchanges in the field of symphonic music. By identifying the developing trends and discussing hot issues of symphonic music, it will draw more attention and support to the development of symphonic music from all sectors of society and to promote cross-region and cross-industry integration in order to contribute to exchanges and development in the global performing arts industry.

Themed “Integration & Development”, centred around four issues, i.e., “Symphonic Music & City”, “Audience Development & Art Education”, “Symphonic Music & Technology” and “The Development of Orchestras & New Works”, the Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music 2019 will be attended by about 30 orchestras and organizations from North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Specifically, to be present at the forum are more than 80 people including the directors of world-class famous orchestras such as the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, US Cleveland Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra and Wiener Symphoniker, and representatives of domestic orchestras, threatres, conservatories, performing arts companies, record companies and digital platforms, as well as Chinese composers. Keynote speeches and sub-forums will be held to explore the challenges and opportunities currently faced by the symphony industry in an attempt to form a pan-culture-oriented symphony-focused permanent exchange platform by breaking the national boundaries and profession barriers.

Chinese symphony has achieved rapid development in a short period of time, giving birth to remarkable artistic achievements, and China has also made great strides in the construction of symphony orchestras. As a national performing arts centre, the NCPA remains dedicated to introducing the world’s top symphony orchestras and symphonic masterpieces to Chinese audiences and bringing the development of Chinese symphony to their close attention. Through “Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music 2019”, Beijing will highlight its responsibility and mission as the national cultural centre and the NCPA will further reveal its more enhanced international influence. We hope that the forum will be successfully held to provide a learning and exchange platform for more Chinese symphony orchestras, composers and art institutions so that they can compose more new works and make greater contributions to the development of the international performing arts industry.

Vice President ZHU Jing said, “NCPA carries through all artistic practices with the aim of enriching Beijing’s supply of high-quality culture to show more people the beauty of music and contribute to the construction of Beijing into the national cultural centre and an international exchange centre. In the future, we will continue to improve the exchange and cooperation platform where famous Chinese and foreign orchestras and art institutions communicate with one another and help each other forward.”

TAN Lihua said, “Themed ‘Integration & Development’, the Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music has drawn the attention of insiders. The symphony orchestra is the symbol of a city, essential for a modern city or civilized city because it can exert a subtle influence on the city. I expect that the forum will have some implications for the development of symphony orchestras in Chinese cities so that more music lovers can go to better concerts.”

ZHANG Yi said, “Since the beginning of the reform and opening-up, especially over the past 20 years since the beginning of the 21st century, Chinese symphony orchestras have undergone earth-shaking changes. That’s great! It’s a globally impressive achievement. We’re obligated to tell the China story attractively in the symphonic language and promote China’s symphony commissions to the rest of the world.”

CHEN Guangxian said, “All of the issues to be explored at this year’s forum are what China has to solve for the development of symphonic music. Taking symphony and technology for example, a symphony orchestra cannot develop itself in isolation from technology. Symphonic music cannot be merely performed in a concert hall. Technology is able to promote the dissemination, promotion and popularization of a symphony orchestra to achieve better development of symphonic music.”

The representative of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra said, “We are looking forward to sharing our excellent practice and experience with all guests present at the ‘Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music 2019’ and learning from our Chinese and international counterparts to inspire musical creation in one another.”