Greatly encouraged as the organizer of the New Music Week by the success of the first edition in 2008, the artistic fruits it
achieved and the good evaluation it received, we strongly believe that we can and should bring music to a more prosperous
state through the economic crisis even though this crisis takes its toll on all walks of life, for music has never failed to bring
human beings great confidence and courage to overcome every difficulty. Without it, this world would come to an end. And
among all music, flourishing contemporary music comes to the fore symbolizing a hope for the future. That is why we decided
on “No Today, No Future” as a slogan for our New Music Week. It is a resonance to the call of the future.
The most distinctive features of this New Music Week would be the three concert portraits for three composers in residence.
Together with master classes, lectures of the three composers, the three concerts will help audience, students, performers and
musicologists understand their music as well as their philosophy even more thoroughly and comprehensively. Among the three
concerts, the concert portrait of Yang Liqing with his new music commissioned by this edition unfolds his cordial and noble
manner towards life and indicates a new starting point after his retirement from the leading position of Shanghai Conservatory.
Guo Wenjing’s portrait is featuring two of his percussion’s pieces and the suit from his opera A Mad Man’s Diary, which are long expected events in the music community. The concert portrait of the world-famous Italian Composer, Stefan Gervasoni, will present his three pieces for strings, which manifest a distinguishingly
exquisite style of composition, an organic combination of sound and noise, and revelation of poetic feelings in a gentle and
mild way.
This music week is preceded by “the Master-class and International Students Duet Works Concert”, which is intended to encourage students to compose better duets.
And on the opening ceremony, the concert of contemporary music for Chinese traditional orchestra echoes the call from the
Chinese tradition music for more repertoires by composers. After that, Xie Yashuangzi and Xie Ya’ou will bring us a fabulous piano concert of works by George Crumb and Chinese composers. Then the Switzerland Trio
Concert with Tenor, Piano, Double bass & Electronic, working with Shanghai International Electronic Music Week, is
to premiere 6 new works by composers home and abroad. The concert with the Countertenor and the recorder is not only
dedicating a rare but grand banquet of music, four new works of which are of totally different style by four overseas Chinese
composers commissioned by the performers. The contemporary jazz concert of Pascal Schaer International Jazz Ensemble is
assembled with first-rank jazz players from Africa, America, Switzerland and France. On the closing ceremony, Jensen Lam’s viola recital is to premiere six new works he commissioned the teachers of Shanghai Conservatory. This will definitely arouse
students’ great enthusiasm about it, for people always have great interest in things around them, much less what is produced
by their own teachers.
China's Contemporary Music Symposium is to provide a channel for composers and musicologists to exchange their ideas and
philosophy as well as a platform for people to share their gains and losses. The achievement of this symposium will be published
in Essays on Chinese Contemporary Music Works in the New Music Week 2009.
Without doubt, characterized by its academic value and diversity, this music week is to not only unfold China’s contemporary music creation of a high order, but also embody a new trend in international contemporary music ----return to nature. However, such a brilliant music week would become Utopian without the dedication of those composers and
performers home and abroad with a total disregard for reward, without the support from leadership at all levels and the co-operation of different departments of Shanghai conservatory, without the generous patronage from the overseas foundations,
Significant projects of Shanghai Conservatory, Department of Composition, and especially one of my friends, who prefers to
remain anonymous and thus whose name is implied in Hu Jingmin New Music Foundation as a token of gratitude, without the
passionate and professional work of my team, which is from the Department of Arts Administration.
Deqing Wen
The Artistic Director of Shanghai Conservatory New Music Week
7th April 2009
