On August 9th, the 25th/26th Beijing Music Festival official press conference was held at the Divine Music Administration in the Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing. The festival's theme is "Together for the Future" and will interpret art from four dimensions: "Music, Youth, Future, Attitude".

This year's Beijing Music Festival will open on September 22nd and close on October 15th, lasting for 24 days. It will feature 25 music performances, including China premieres of operas, new commissioned works, solo and chamber music, and visual symphony concerts. Musicians and performance groups from China, Germany, the UK, Spain, and other countries will gather, especially showcasing the youthful power of the classical music world. Through new works and new artists, the festival aims to lead the audience to envision the future of classical music culture.

Providing a platform for young musicians to showcase their talents and allowing the world to listen to the voices of young Chinese musicians has been the mission of the Beijing Music Festival's founder and chairman of the artistic committee, Yu Long, for many years.

"China's classical music culture is at a new era of heading towards the future. The key step from today to the future is that young Chinese musicians can boost the volume on the world stage," said Yu Long.

Yu Long, founder and chairman of the artistic committee of the Beijing Music Festival (left), and artistic director Zou Shuang (right).

The 25th/26th Beijing Music Festival is the first time it has restarted as a biennial event. Young musicians such as Lin Bing, who combines singing, composing, and cello playing, young conductors Jin Yukuang, Sun Yifan, and Yu Ji, young performers Mei Diyang, Mo Mo, Lin Ruifeng, Ju Xiaofu, Sun Jiayi, Zhang Haotian, and Nie Jiapeng, and young singers Wang Yunpeng, Liu Shen, and Han Yinpei will appear in the festival's performance series.

The "City Series" planned and launched by the Beijing Music Festival for many years has brought classical music out of the concert hall and deeply integrated it into Beijing's urban life and culture, from the trendy gathering place of Sanlitun to the city landmark CITIC Tower, to historical cultural landmarks such as the Temple of Heaven and Jingshan Shouhuang Palace.

Artistic director Zou Shuang said: "We want to bring the music festival closer to more young people, break the traditional viewing mode through the enthusiasm of young musicians, and further integrate music into our way of life, providing more ways for the audience to integrate into classical music culture."

The opening concert will be themed "In Commemoration of the 101st Anniversary of the Establishment of the Music Department of Peking University". The Beijing Music Festival and the Beijing Chinese Orchestra jointly commissioned the renowned composer Zou Ye to create a fantasy symphonic suite titled "Listening to Liu Tianhua", based on Liu Tianhua's instrumental works such as "Liang Xiao", "Kong Shan Niao Yu", "Guang Ming Xing", and "Gai Jin Cao". This will mark its world premiere. (All images in this article are provided by the organizers of the Beijing Music Festival.)