The Beijing Music Festival, endorsed by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China and the Beijing Municipal Government, was founded in 1998 by Maestro Long Yu, the Artistic Director of the Beijing Music Festival Foundation. The festival has since become one of the most significant and creative cultural events in the world.
Each autumn, such internationally renowned musicians and orchestras give some thirty performances including operas, symphonic and chamber music concerts, musicals and even jazz performances.
Performers and orchestras include Christoph Eschenbach, Lorin Maazel, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, Charles Dutoit, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Valery Gergiev, Martha Argerich, Maurizio Pollini, Paul Badura-Skoda, Lang Lang, Mischa Maisky, Augustin Dumay, Maxim Vengerov, Midori, Jian Wang, Yo-Yo Ma, Jose Carreras, Cheryl Studer, the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Verona Opera House, Grand Theatre of Warsaw, Teatro La Fenice, and Deutsche Oper Berlin.
In its 14 years, the Beijing Music Festival has presented many performances of historic significance, including the sensational Chinese premiere of Mahler’s Symphony No.8 (“Symphony of a Thousand”) and the Asian premiere of Berg’sLulu in 2002 (“Night of a China Opera”). In 2003 it presented challenging productions of Guo Wenjing’s Ye Yan (“Night Banquet”) and Wolf Club Village, the historical Chinese premiere of Wagner’s complete Ring and, in only its second visit since 1979, the Berlin Philharmonic with the Beijing premieres of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and The Noise (2005).