21st Meet in Beijing International Arts Festival to kick off

In 1979, a group of student performers from Brigham Young University in the US state of Utah made history when they became one of the first Western groups to perform in China. The group has since returned to the country about 30 times. A documentary about BYU's and China's four-decade-long friendship will be screened at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center.

Beijing Philharmonic Choir, China National Traditional Orchestra and the Philharmonic Male Chorus will stage concerts celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China at the Beijing Concert Hall.

The opera section will feature such productions as Guangzhou Opera House's commissioned work, Marco Polo, and Mozart's The Magic Flute and Puccini's Turandot, both produced by Bregenzer Festspiele (Bregenz Festival).

The Latin American Arts Session is a part of Meet in Beijing International Arts Festival launched in 2013 to showcase the region's cultural diversity.

Over 300 artists from 24 Latin American countries have since performed during the festival. This year's session will present eight programs, covering classical music, dance, choir and documentaries. Highlights include a Cuban cappella group Vocal Sampling, salsa troupe Ensalsate Dance Columbia, the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic and Peru's National Folk Dance Company.

The festival will also feature exhibitions, including paintings by Huang Zhou (1925-97), He Xiangning (1878-1972) and Li Keran (1907-89).

This year's Meet in Beijing International Arts Festival will close with a gala for the launch ceremony of the one-year countdown to the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.