Musicians at the press Photo: Courtesy of BMF

A symphonic poem A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, written by composer Zhao Lin, is set to be staged at Beijing's Poly Theater on Saturday night as part of the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Music Festival, one of China's renowned classical music events. 

Yu Long, founder of BMF and also a maestro conductor, said on Wednesday that the 2022 music festival will be postponed due to the ongoing pandemic, but a series of events will still be held to celebrate BMF's 25th anniversary. 

The upcoming concert staged by Yu, Wu Tong, Zhao Cong and Fang Qiong as well as the China Philharmonic Orchestra is inspired by the only surviving painting by young Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) genius artist Wang Ximeng, A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains. In the painting, the painter depicts a vast country landscape, the ideal world of perfect order and harmony that people dream of.

Additionally, a special event for the 25th anniversary of BMF will be organized by the Asia Society on September 28 in New York City, where Leonard Bernstein's daughter, US composer-conductor Jamie Bernstein along with composers such as Zhou Long, Du Yun, Zhou Tian and music critic Ken Smith will review the outstanding achievements of BMF in the East-West cultural conversation over the last 25 years.

"I would love to see BMF be a window for the world to understand China. At the same time, through professional operation and management, I hope to make the festival a model for the Chinese art industry," said Yu, when reviewing the past 25 years that BMF has gone through.