Beijing Music Festival

Beijing Music Festival Founded in 1998, Beijing Music Festival (BMF) has become one of the world's leading music festivals

Founded in 1998 by Maestro Long Yu, The Beijing Music Festival (BMF) is the premier event in China's cultural calendar and one of the leading classical music festivals in the world. The festival presents 30 concerts every October, offering a wide variety of classical and jazz music including opera, orchestral, chamber, solo, and choral concerts. BMF also hosts master classes, community outreach co

ncerts, children's concerts, and educations activities. Notable performers who have appeared at the festival include Martha Argerich, Pinchas Zukerman, Jean Yves Thibaudet, Emmanuel Ax, Murray Perahia, Maxim Vengerov, Christoph Eschenbach, Tan Dun, Kathleen Battle, Jose Carreras, Sarah Chang, Augustin Dumay, Valery Gergiev, Mischa Maisky, Krzysztof Penderecki, Issac Stern, Melvyn Tan, Fou Ts'ong, the Kodály Quartet, and the New London Consort. The Festival has always been active in commissioning and presenting premieres of new works by great Chinese and international composers, and many works of the Western classical music canon had their Asian premieres at BMF. Zhou Long’s Madame White Snake, which was co-commissioned with Opera Boston, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 2011. The Foundation also presented the world premiere of Ye Xiaogang’s opera, Song of Farewell (texted by Sun Gexuan) and the sensational China premiere of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (“Symphony of a Thousand”). In the opening concert of the 13th Beijing Music Festival, the Foundation commissioned Howard Shore for a new piano concerto commemorating the bicentennial of Chopin’s Birth. Entitled “Ruin and Memory” and performed by Lang Lang, this work received its world premiere at the festival.

13/11/2024
We were overjoyed to present the China premiere of Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess” last weekend with the Cape Town Ope...
17/10/2024

We were overjoyed to present the China premiere of Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess” last weekend with the Cape Town Opera and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra - expertly led by Kazem Abdullah and directed by Noa Naamat. The cast and crew worked tirelessly to bring this special semi-staged production to life and it was a fitting conclusion to the 27th BMF. “Porgy and Bess” was a co-production between BMF, Cape Town Opera & The KT Wong Foundation.

Photos from last night’s concert with Camerata Salzburg and Helene Grimaud. Bravo to all! 👏
08/10/2024

Photos from last night’s concert with Camerata Salzburg and Helene Grimaud. Bravo to all! 👏

07/10/2024

In 2013, Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Zhou Long created Jiu Ge, or Nine Odes, a whole evening symphonic epic based on the poems called Nine Songs by ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan. This marked the first time that a full, large-scale symphony interpretation of the entire 11 chapters of Qu's poem had...

Photos from last night’s BMF Opening Concert commemorating 60 years of Sino-French diplomatic relations led by Tan Dun w...
06/10/2024

Photos from last night’s BMF Opening Concert commemorating 60 years of Sino-French diplomatic relations led by Tan Dun with the China National Symphony Orchestra, Liu Wenwen (suona), Lu Wei (violin), and Wang Jian (cello).

The 27th BMF proudly presents the China premiere of Porgy and Bess, the beloved opera by George Gershwin, which tells th...
02/10/2024

The 27th BMF proudly presents the China premiere of Porgy and Bess, the beloved opera by George Gershwin, which tells the story of a man trying to rescue a woman from a distressing life. The 1935 stage work, which celebrates African-American life and culture in Charleston, South Carolina, is still relevant today through its themes of timelessness, placelessness, struggle, and hope. The new semi-staged production, directed by Noa Naamat and conducted by Kazem Abdullah, is a co-production between the Beijing Music Festival, Cape Town Opera, and The KT Wong Foundation. It will be performed on October 12 and 13 at Poly Theatre with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra - 上海交响乐团; a press conference will be held on October 10. (Porgy and Bess will also be performed in Shanghai on October 8.)

October 9 & 10, 19:30National Centre for The Performing ArtsWe Got RhythmWynton Marsalis with Jazz at Lincoln Center
30/09/2024

October 9 & 10, 19:30
National Centre for The Performing Arts
We Got Rhythm
Wynton Marsalis with Jazz at Lincoln Center

American composer Andy Akiho’s trailblazing Seven Pillars is an 80-minute, 11-movement suite for percussion that consist...
28/09/2024

American composer Andy Akiho’s trailblazing Seven Pillars is an 80-minute, 11-movement suite for percussion that consists of seven ensemble movements and one solo movement for each member of the group. The structure is formed by two simultaneous processes: an additive process in which each movement introduces a new instrument, and a symmetrical/palindromic structure on either side of the central movement. It is Akiho’s most ambitious project to date. Seven Pillars was nominated for two GRAMMY® awards — “Best Contemporary Classical Composition” and “Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance” — and was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in music. It will be performed by Sandbox Percussion for the first time in Asia on October 11 at Forbidden City Concert Hall.

October 8, 19:30Poly TheatreJiu Ge + Immortal LoveTwo New Commissions on Chinese Themes ● Richard Dubugnon: Eros athanat...
26/09/2024

October 8, 19:30
Poly Theatre
Jiu Ge + Immortal Love
Two New Commissions on Chinese Themes

● Richard Dubugnon: Eros athanatos
● Zhou Long: Jiu Ge - Concerto for Erhu and Orchestra

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano; Gautier Capuçon, cello; Lu Yiwen, erhu; Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra; Yi Huang, conductor

On October 7th, virtuoso French pianist Helene Grimaud joins the Camerata Salzburg for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4....
25/09/2024

On October 7th, virtuoso French pianist Helene Grimaud joins the Camerata Salzburg for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. Also on the program, Mozart’s Overture from Idomeneo, K.366 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

The opening concert of the 27th BMF, titled “A Hundred Birds from East and West Pay Tribute to the Phoenix” will be held...
13/09/2024

The opening concert of the 27th BMF, titled “A Hundred Birds from East and West Pay Tribute to the Phoenix” will be held on October 5 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. Conducted by renowned composer Tan Dun, the China National Symphony Orchestra will perform alongside suona soloist Liu Wenwen, violinist Lu Wei, and cellist Wang Jian, presenting classical Chinese music pieces such as “Hundreds of Birds Worshiping the Phoenix,” Stravinsky’s “The Firebird” suite, Tan Dun’s “Whispers of Winds and Birds” and Ravel’s “Bolero.” This concert celebrates the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France by showcasing the collaboration between Chinese and French artists, demonstrating the achievements of cultural exchanges between the two nations. The resonance of Chinese traditional instruments with Western orchestral music will let the world hear the voice of China and allow China to feel the rhythm of the world.

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6 Ritan Road, Sunjoy Mansion, Suite 401, Chaoyang District
Beijing
100020

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China's premier cultural event, now in its 22nd year.