The sixth China Opera Festival commenced in Xiamen on September 19, featuring a concert presented by Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SHCM) and led by its president, Liao Changyong. The performance, titled “Qin Dao Qiu Ge” (Autumn Songs of Qin Island), showcased the institution’s opera and musical theater talent development efforts. Attendees included parents, young students, and devoted opera enthusiasts, assembled in a layered semicircle on the lawn outside the Xiamen Art Museum.
The concert, which included a range of selections, was held in a space Liao Changyong noted was particularly suited for musical performances, drawing on the island’s history of informal musical gatherings. He has organized similar courtyard concerts for four consecutive years. The SHCM has recently prioritized collaborations with local communities, contributing to cultural development and implementing an integrated talent cultivation model.
The program featured five doctoral students from SHCM, accompanied by pianist Hans-Otto Estermann, a vocal coach from the Vienna State Opera. The repertoire spanned both Western and Chinese classics, including excerpts from operas such as *Romeo and Juliet* and *The Barber of Seville*, alongside selections from the musical *Cats* and the original Chinese musical *The Piano Player*. Liao Changyong concluded the performance with a rendition of selections from Mozart’s *The Marriage of Figaro*, eliciting enthusiastic applause.
For more information, visit shcmusic.edu.cn.