Photo: courtesy of MISA

 
The 11th Music in the Summer Air (MISA) will be held in the Concert Hall of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra from July 20, with live concerts set to help revive a sector that has been badly affected by the COVID-19 epidemic.

The organizers of the MISA said that the epidemic has put classical music in danger. Because of the ban on gatherings, audiences might lose the habit of going to see live concerts and may gradually get used to online entertainment. 

But online entertainment is not able to offer a surprise to audiences, so this year’s return of the MISA can help revive live performances.

The music festival invites many groups and musicians from around the country, including the Hubei Province Opera and Dance Drama Theater and composer Tan Dun. This is the first time for the Opera and Dance Drama Theater of Hubei Province to perform since the outbreak of the epidemic.

Young musicians in Shanghai will also join the music festival. The symphony orchestra for students and other young music groups are ready. They have not been absent from the MISA for a decade and will also be on the stage at the end of a special semester.

A music feast combining Chinese-style music, different nation’s folk music and Western classic songs will be held with a live stream at the same time. This year’s MISA will last from July 20 to July 29. 

The MISA is the first large-scale classical music festival to be held every summer in the Chinese mainland and has been going since 2010.

Global Times