The launch ceremony of 2019 China Grand Canal International Piano Art Festival and Lang Lang Piano Competition is held in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, on Jan 7. [Photo/Xinhua]

The 2019 China Grand Canal International Piano Art Festival and Lang Lang Piano Competition will take place in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province in May, according to a news conference held on Jan 7.

Co-organized by the Publicity Department of Zhejiang, Zhejiang Cultural and Tourism Office, and Hangzhou government, the event aims to build a quality platform for piano exchanges and communication and attract more top cultural talents and projects to the province, with the hope of driving the development of regional cultural industries and the Grand Canal cultural belt.

Lang Lang, the world renowned pianist and a UN peace ambassador, will be the art director of the festival.

As this year marks the 5th anniversary of the Grand Canal as a UNESCO heritage site, the host of the art festival will play a positive role in protecting and promoting the canal culture, while elevating the culture brand of Hangzhou to a new level, said Ge Xuebin, vice director of Publicity Department of Zhejiang.

Other than the piano competition, a series of seminars, concerts and other musical activities will also be held during the week-long festival when some of the most authoritative and influential pianists and educators from world renowned institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria will gather to share music learning resources and facilitate the cultural development of Grand Canal.

Running more than 2,000 kilometers from Beijing to Hangzhou, the Grand Canal is the longest and oldest man-made canal in the world.