China's first Eurochestries Festival underway in Qingdao

China's first ever Eurochestries Festival, which opened on July 27, is in full swing in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province.

Themed under "Culture to Future", the Qingdao West Coast Music Season and the Eurochestries Festival will last until August 3. It is jointly organized by the Association of the Federation of Eurochestries Festivals, the Qingdao municipal bureau of culture, radio, television, news and publication and the Qingdao West Coast New Area Administrative Committee.

The poster of the Eurochestries Festival, which kicked off on July 27, 2017, in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/bandao.cn]

Twenty orchestras and ensembles from 13 countries, including the Russian S.Richter Symphony Orchestra, the Moroccan Choir CasaSawt, the National Youth Wind Instruments Orchestra from Israel, the University of Sciences Wroclaw-Polish Choir, the Mexican Trio Soneta, the Norwegian Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the String Orchestra from Kosice, Slovakia, will stage a total of 27 concerts across the coastal city during the eight-day festival.

The world's largest youth classical music exchange platform, the Eurochestries Festival was created in 1989 to promote 15- to 25-year-olds' participation in orchestras. It gathers symphony and string orchestras, choirs and music chamber groups together to take part in international exchanges.

China has just joined the network of festivals this year. Claude Révolte, president of the Federation of Eurochestries Festivals, decided to place the banner of the festival in Qingdao after a one-week fact-finding mission to China.

The opening concert “From Culture to Future” is staged on July 27 in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

According to Liu Zheng, the Qingdao festival's artistic director, it took him more than a year to convince the organizers of the Eurochestries Festivals to agree to hold a festival in China.

"As we all know, music resounds across borders. Young people may be separated by language, but can be united by the universal language of music. Not only bands from European countries perform at the Qingdao festival, so too will ones from other countries," Liu said. "The festival itself is a positive result of China's Belt and Road Initiative."

China's youth orchestras are also taking part in the music festival, including the Duo DLD, the Percussions Group from Xinghai Conservatory of Music, the Peking University Student Symphony Orchestra, the Golden Sails Symphony Orchestra from Beijing No 8 High School and a student symphony orchestra from Taiyuan No 5 Middle School.

Young musicians will not only perform with their own orchestras, but also be encouraged to form new musical orchestras with musicians from other countries for the closing concert.

"Young musicians will meet and work toward a common goal. They will learn more about new programs, discover other cultures and other musical sensibilities and work under the direction of different conductors, which will be a challenge as well as an opportunity to learn," explained Liu.

"Classic music will act as a bridge leading to the future."

While the opening and closing concerts will be staged in theaters, most of the activities during the festival will be performed in public spaces throughout the coastal city. These performances will be streamed live online.