Shanghai Symphony Orchestra conductor Yu Long will partner with singer-songwriter Gong Linna for the upcoming Music in the Summer Air's opening concert on July 20. The annual music event hosted by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will take place from July 20 to 29. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will host the annual Music in the Summer Air despite the epidemic, saying that music is important to maintaining cultural exchanges in times of crisis.

Music in the Summer Air, an annual music event hosted by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, will take place from July 20 to 29.

According to Zhou Ping, director of SSO, the orchestra had to overcome great difficulties to make MISA happen.

"Overseas musicians are not able to come in, and each concert will be attended by no more than one-third of the full capacity of the venue," she says.

"But life has to go on despite the pandemic. The city can't have a summer without music."

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra conductor Yu Long shares the same sentiment and recalls an earlier conversation he had with renowned cellist Yo-yo Ma.

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra conductor Yu Long will partner with singer-songwriter Gong Linna for the upcoming Music in the Summer Air's opening concert on July 20. The annual music event hosted by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will take place from July 20 to 29. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"Ma said that the pandemic could permanently change the relationship among countries, cities and people. The great bonding between musicians and the audience in a live performance might never come back again," says Yu.

"Only art can bring people back together. That's why we have to keep on with creating. By playing the music of the East and West, we are able to achieve cultural exchanges even when musicians can't travel."

Yu says he received many congratulatory messages when he announced the orchestra was hosting its first ticketed concert after the COVID-19 pandemic on June 13.Internationally acclaimed musicians such as Daniel Harding, Charles Dutoit and Renaud Capucon were among those who texted the conductor, who is also the artistic director of the China Philharmonic and Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra.

"These artists were truly happy for us to be able to give concerts again and have life return to normal," Yu says.

The pandemic, he adds, has brought about unprecedented change in the industry, noting how all live performances were brought to a sudden stop.

Posters featuring highlights of the event include Hubei Opera and Dance Theater's first performance outside of Wuhan this year. It will present a Chinese opera, Red Guards on Honghu Lake, on July 25. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"I've had so many engagements canceled this year," he says. "Can you imagine that, since March, musicians around the world lost their jobs all at once? No concerts, no operas, no theater. This has never happened before," he says.

Despite the crisis, SSO continued operating, hosting online concerts, giving masterclasses through videos and making many adjustments to upcoming programs.

"During the epidemic, even though concert halls were not in use, we were busy working from home. There were many online conferences where we discussed preparations for the reopening of the orchestra and the 2023 program," he says.

The upcoming MISA festival will consist of 17 shows that will take place at the Shanghai Symphony Hall and the Shanghai Urban Music Lawn, an open-air venue by the Shanghai Concert Hall.

Artists attending the upcoming festival include such singer-songwriters as Gong Linna, Li Quan, Huo Zun, Zhang Xiongguan and the founder of the Rainbow Chamber Chorus, Jin Chengzhi.

Posters featuring highlights of the event include Hubei Opera and Dance Theater's first performance outside of Wuhan this year. It will present a Chinese opera, Red Guards on Honghu Lake, on July 25. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Renowned artists of the classical music scene such as composer Tan Dun, bass singer Shen Yang and soprano Huang Ying will also be participating.

Meanwhile, Yu will partner with Gong for the opening concert on July 20. The concert, featuring classical compositions by Sibelius and Stravinsky and Chinese art songs created by Robert Zollitsch, Gong's creative partner and husband, will be a dialogue between symphonic music and neo-Chinese folk music, SSO's director Zhou says.

One of the highlights of the event this year will be the coming together of musicians and orchestras from all over China. This will be the first time that the Hubei Opera and Dance Theater will perform outside of Wuhan. It will present a Chinese opera titled Red Guards on Honghu Lake on July 25.

The New York Philharmonic, a frequent participant of MISA, will not be traveling to Shanghai for the event because of the pandemic. Instead, the orchestra will host an online video show of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 6 in B minor performed by 50 instrumentalists and students of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy.

Musicians from the New York Philharmonic will also host online masterclasses and share highlights of chamber music performances by its musicians and students of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy.

The absence of foreign musicians this year, says Yu, has provided local talent with the opportunity to shine.

"Outstanding musicians who emerged through the past decades in China are now taking the lead in bringing China's music scene back to life. They are the pride of our time. Now, because overseas musicians cannot travel to China, our own musicians are able to better display their capability and artistry," he says.

Yu says the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will soon publish its program for the 2020-21 music season. The new season, which starts in September, has been "designed according to the global pandemic situation and is a scientific and precise program".

While the pandemic has ushered in a host of online performances, Yu says the best way to enjoy music is still in the concert hall.

"You cannot accurately tell how good an orchestra is by listening to it online as performance flaws in the production process might have been fixed," he says.

"If a top orchestra and a mediocre one were to upload their performances on the internet, it is very difficult to tell them apart. Only listening to online performances will diminish the importance of the hard work and craftsmanship that goes into high-quality music interpretations."