Off the wire
• 1st-LD Writethru: Xi underscores challenge, opportunity of aging population  • Nepal unveils nearly 10 bln USD annual budget focused on quake reconstruction  • 15 people feared dead in Tanzania boat accident  • Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano threatens to wreak havoc on agriculture  • News Analysis: Lack of competitiveness, political clientelism hamper Italian economy  • Tanzania raises water budget by 90 pct to improve access  • Feature: China pavilions at Venice Biennale call on architects to serve people's lives  • E. African apex business body decries barriers in regional trade  • Eight Russian 2012 Olympic athletes doping retest positive  • Roundup: Kenyan president says high speed railway set for completion ahead of schedule  
You are here: 　 Home

Feature: Umbria music fests ready to kick off, after bringing best Italian jazz on China stage

Xinhua, May 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Everything is set in the Umbria region, in the very heart of Italy, for a long summer journey through jazz, classical music, and opera.

The 2016 programs of Umbria Jazz Fest, Spoleto Festival of the Two Worlds, and Citta di Castello-Festival of the Nations were officially unveiled earlier this week at the Argentina Theatre opera house in the Italian capital.

All together, they represent Italy's most prestigious music festivals.

Even more so this year, after Umbria Jazz 2016 was brought to China for the first time to perform Italian jazz rhythms on the stage of Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, and Guangzhou as an international "prelude" between late April and early May.

"The three festivals are staged in the heart of our historical cities, they represent an extraordinary tool to boost both our cultural heritage and our economy ... they are a major means for us to promote the image of our region," president of Umbria regional assembly Catiuscia Marini said at the launching ceremony on May 23.

The three festivals are expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors to the central Umbria region, which has long invested in these cultural events to boost its brand in Italy and abroad.

Umbria Jazz is the largest one among the three, and drew 450,000 visitors to Perugia last year alone.

It is not by chance, then, that Umbria Jazz has been chosen to exhibit in international tours since 1983, and this year performed in China from April 27 and May 8 as a special event.

"We chose China because it is a new 'horizon'," Umbria Jazz production manager Stefano Lazzari told Xinhua.

"In addition to their great traditional music, and a strong interest in classical music and opera, the Chinese society is recently showing a growing curiosity towards jazz," said Lazzari.

Umbria Jazz China staged 18 concerts across Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao and Guangzhou overall, with Italian pianist Danilo Rea, Fabrizio Bosso Quintet, and Funk Off band performing in "different contexts and for different kinds of audience".

"The feed-back was very good. We estimated some 15,000 people followed our concerts, and millions of contacts were registered in the Chinese social media," Lazzari explained.

Among other places, Italian musicians performed at the Temple Theatre in Beijing, during the JZ Spring Festival in Shanghai, and at the Qingdao Grand Theatre.

The JZ Spring Fest in Shanghai represented the main part in the Umbria Jazz China tour, with the Italian musicians performing on May 1 and May 2.

"We offered different kinds of our best Italian jazz, from an intimate piano solo concert by Danilo Rea to the more lively funky jazz of Funk Off band," the production manager said.

"All of them met with a very warm reaction from the Chinese people, which proved to appreciate the different styles. We registered a high participation in all of the three concerts staged there," said the production manager.

On a prior event, the International Jazz Day on April 30, Pianist Danilo Rea played with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

"Danilo Rea embraced another success in Qingdao, a major seaport in east coast of China. Rea's solo concert was fully booked and attracted more than 1200 people ... The response was absolutely positive for us," Lazzari added.

Willing to get to know the Chinese audience as much as possible, in all its variety, Italian jazz artists also chose to play in two private music clubs in Shanghai.

Italy's Ministry of Culture, Umbria Jazz Foundation, and Umbria region promoted the Umbria Jazz China 2016, and the production manager said they would be most willing to repeat it next year.

"We are sure this experience in China does not end here ... Very likely, we will do it again. This is why we wanted to perform in many different contexts and before various sorts of people this year."

Meanwhile, it will be China to "come" to Perugia: young Chinese pianist A Bu will in fact perform at Umbria Jazz 2016.

"He is a 16-yeat-old emerging talent, and already a real musical prodigy," Lazzari said.

Umbria Jazz Fest in Perugia will start from July 8 to July 17.

Considered one of the world's most important jazz festivals, it has been taking place annually since 1973 in Perugia, Umbria's regional capital. The festival will include artists renowned at home and abroad. Endit