From July 4^th to 28^th, the annual NCPA Roam about the Classics will arrive. This year’s Roam about the Classics will be held on an unprecedented scale to present 20 well-designed performances in 16 programmes in 25 days. When listening to classical music, jazz and traditional Chinese music, the audience will feel infinite possibilities and multiple joys of music in a chilling way, and that’s how a gift pack of music is presented to all music lovers on such blistering summer days.

The Roam about the Classics 2024 is themed, “Friendship in Music”, with music serving as a bridge across musical instruments, styles and artistic forms. Musicians from all over the world will have a cross-generation and cross-cultural exchange of ideas with one another on stage.

The classical Chinese culture is an inexhaustible source of Chinese music. On the July 11^th, singers from the China National Opera House, including YAO Hong, will deliver a special concert of ancient Chinese poetry to start a marvelous journey mixed with the ancient and modern, with poems and songs, and with musical sounds and pictures. On the July 17^th, XU Zhijun will lead the China Conservatory of Music National Orchestra to work with Singer WU Bixia to perform touching music excerpted from the 1987 version of A Dream of Red Mansions and to cooperate with Huqin Artist SONG Fei to play The Great Wall Capriccio. On 21^st, JIN Ye will raise his baton over the Beijing Chinese Orchestra to render Confucius-themed Fantasia Suite. On the 27^th, the Orchestra of Chang Chun Film Studio will appear with a star-studded lineup to present screen classics.

Different musical instruments, artistic forms and musical styles will blend together to create new sparks. The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic are honoured as “the most fantastic cello ensemble in the history of classical music”. Roaming between classical music and pop music, they are not confined to any certain musical style. Instead, they will begin their concert with a piece of classical crossover music on July 4^th and 5^th. On the 14^th, Erhu Artist JIANG Jianhua will appear with Pipa Artist YANG Baoyuan, Cellist Mo Mo and Jazz Pianist HUANG Jianyi to give an amazing presentation of erhu and jazz music. On the 18^th, artists from the Beijing Symphony Orchestra and Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing will share the stage and deliver a Peking Opera-themed symphony concert entitled “Azalea Mountain”. On the 26^th, under the leadership of Conductor JING Huan, the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra will work with Li-Wei Qin and ZHANG Qiang to present a concerto for cello and pipa, as well as Qigang Chen’s Instants d’un Opéra de Pékin Symphonic Prelude. On the 28^th, Pablo Mielgo and the National Ballet of China’s “Iberian-Style Night” will present the Spanish composers’ works.

The year 2024 marks the 60^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. For more than half a century, the two countries have basked in eternal friendship, always having an in-depth exchange and mutual influence on each other in the fields of culture and art. The Paris Olympic Games is kicking off this July. Following in the footsteps of the Olympic Games, several guest French-themed concerts will be held one after another at the “Roam about the Classics” to show splendid French colours in music.

From July 6^th to 7^th, LI Xincao will raise his baton over the China NCPA Chorus to perform classic French opera excerpts such as Roméo et Juliette, Les pêcheurs de perles, Carmen, etc. On 14^th, Violinist Siqing Lu will deliver a recital of “French music” featuring masterpieces by Debussy, Saint-Saëns and Franck to interpret delicate, elegant and fantastic French sentiments in music. The Paris Olympics will kick off on July 26^th. Violinist HUANG Mengla and Pianist LUO Wei will give a concert entitled “A Love Letter to Paris” on 25^th, the day before the Olympic Games. Debussy’s By The Seine will respond to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games on the Seine River, with both to echo each other in a vibrant atmosphere.