Shanghai Symphony Orchestra fires up the 9th Music in the Summer Air

SHANGHAI, June 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Bringing high-quality, low-cost concerts to Shanghai, 'Music in the Summer Air' (MISA) is back for its ninth year from July 1 to 16.

More than 20 programs of different tastes - classical, rock, electronic, exotic and domestic - will be staged at Shanghai Symphony Hall and the Shanghai Urban Music Lawn in the 16 days, displaying the 'classical plus' music festival.

The New York Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden, as Orchestra-In-Residence of MISA will continue to embrace classic in Shanghai Symphony Hall; the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will live Shanghai Urban Music Lawn with their melodies on July 12 and 13; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic conducted by Vasily Petrenko will lead audience to a new climax at MISA Open Air on July 14.

Alexandre Desplat, winner of two Academy Awards for his soundtracks of the films 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'The Shape of Water', will feature the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in performing works selected from his score on July 15.

In particular, more than 10 of the programs including those by the New York Philharmonic and the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will be streamed live on the video platforms, reaching out for more potential audiences.

"It is not easy to organize live-streaming concerts, especially those of classical music, due to copyright issues," says Fedina Zhou, president of the 139-year-old Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO). "Tickets sold out quickly every year. We intentionally develop live-streaming channels this time to allow more people in and have fun with music."

A city with the good culture like Shanghai deserves a summer music festival of good quality, which helps nurture the residents' lives with music, according to Maestro Long Yu, the music director of the SSO.

"It is just like Berlin Philharmonic in Waldbuhne for Berlin, Tanglewood Music Festival for Boston, concerts in the Central Park for New York and The Proms for London. We hope that MISA could work the same for Shanghai," said Long Yu, "A qualified music festival should be equipped with clear strategies, designs, and standards, rather than simply pulling programs together."

Advocating music in a fun way, exploring more possibility of a symphony orchestra and attracting more audiences who kept a respectful distance from classical music are all that MISA have been working on throughout the years.

"With the Festival themes ranging from 'hot classic', 'fun classic' and 'classical plus', MISA constantly explores the boundary of classical music, so as to reach for the widest possible audience," said President Zhou of the SSO.

Since its birth, MISA has presented about 200 performances at music halls, urban greener spaces and the Cool Docks in Shanghai, benefiting more than 200,000 audiences, with a quarter of which being teenagers.

And a number of student music groups like Shanghai Youth Choir, Shanghai MISA Students' Fair grow quickly at MISA, providing better platforms for teenage amateurs.