Sixth China Opera Festival Opens in Xiamen with Two-City Format

Key points

• The Sixth China Opera Festival opened on the evening of Sept 15 at the Minnan Grand Theatre in Xiamen, Fujian, with a gala concert as the opening ceremony.
• The opening concert was jointly conducted by Li Xincao and Yang Yang, directed by Chen Wei, and performed by the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Xiamen Song and Dance Theatre Symphony Orchestra.
• Conductor Zheng Xiaoying, 97, returned to lead a classic piece, while more than 10 leading singers including Yin Xiumei, Yan Weiwen, Liao Changyong, Lei Jia, Shi Yijie, Wang Hongwei and Wang Lida performed 23 classic Chinese and foreign opera excerpts.
• The festival uses a Xiamen-Fuzhou two-city format and runs through Sept 30, featuring 16 outstanding productions and 31 professional performances.
• Programming covers four tracks: showcase performances, thematic seminars, public arts outreach and creative talent training.
• Every performance offers discounted public tickets with accompanying community cultural activities, and selected key productions will be streamed in high definition.
• The festival introduces a 'ticket-stub economy' consumption discount, and Taiwanese compatriots can exchange Xiamen-Kinmen or Mawei-Matsu ferry tickets for free performance tickets.
• The festival is hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Fujian Provincial People's Government, and co-organized by the Xiamen municipal government, the ministry's arts department, the Fujian Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and the China Opera Research Society.