AMIDST crisp cool breeze and fresh air, local music fans are invited to attend the three-day Lianhuashan Glades Music Festival between Nov. 8 and Nov. 10. In addition to Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Lanzhou Symphony Orchestra, and Shenzhen Youth Symphony Orchestra, the century-old Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra as well as China National Traditional Orchestra (CNTO) will perform this year. Headed by pipa (Chinese lute) player Zhao Cong, the CNTO will bring such beloved Chinese pieces as “A Moonlit Night on the Spring River” and “Moon Reflected on Erquan Spring.” Principal violinist Guy Braunstein of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Cantonese opera diva Zeng Xiaomin and renowned erhu (two-stringed Chinese fiddle) player Ma Xianghua will also join the festival lineup. For the first time during the festival’s history, music influencers are invited to perform alongside orchestras to engage China’s young generation. Peng Jingxuan, who has a 10-million following on Douyin, the Chinese equivalent to TikTok, will collaborate on the Chinese violin concerto “Butterfly Lovers” with the Stuttgart Philharmonic. Another influencer, suona (Chinese woodwind instrument) player Sun Mingchuan, appeared in a Douyin short video alongside Shenzhen’s youth orchestra to endorse the event. The annual event, which was relocated to a sculpture-themed area in the southeast corner of Lianhua Hill Park between 2021 and 2023, will return this year to its original venue at the Kite Square, a huge lawn near the southern gate, where citizens like to fly kites on breezy days. Those unable to obtain a free ticket via three rounds of online lucky draws and watch the shows up close can still enjoy the performances, as the open vast lawn allows an unobstructed view from nearby vantage points. The shows will also be livestreamed at the official WeChat of Futian District Culture and Sports Center (ID: ftwtzx). During the festival, award-winning patio chairs, picnic blankets and inflatable sofas will be sold in the park. The 30 winning designs, submitted by designers and design students, were chosen through online public votes in the lead-up to the festival. As one of China’s largest outdoor classical music festivals, the Lianhuashan Glades Music Festival, inaugurated in 2014, has held more than 45 shows. Featuring prestigious musicians such as Lang Lang and Lyu Siqing in previous sessions, it has attracted a total of more than 200,000 audience members. (Li Dan) | 