Conductor Jaap van Zweden and New York Philharmonic perform at Shanghai Symphony Hall on Tuesday. Photo: Courtesy of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Jaap van Zweden and New York Philharmonic presented the audience with Mozart's The Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor and Brahms' Symphony No.1 in C minor at Shanghai Symphony Hall on Tuesday, marking the beginning of the 10^th Music in the Summer Air (MISA).

South Korean pianist Cho Seong-Jin was the soloist at the opening performance. He won the champion at the 17^th International Chopin Piano Competition at the age of 21 and has been a frequent performer at European music festival but rarely attended Asian ones.

From his observation, he thinks that Asian audiences are younger than that in Europe, especially in China and South Korea. He told the media that he believes classical music will have a bright future in Asia if the atmosphere could continue.

During the fortnight music festival, four vocational symphony orchestras, six music groups and over twenty soloists will deliver 23 performances at Shanghai Symphony Hall and Shanghai Urban Music Lawn.

Yu Long, music director of MISA as well as Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, said "Shanghai is a culturally intensive city and hopefully MISA will add new color to this diverse and young city. Let's look forward to another ten years".