The 2023 Hangzhou Music Festival kicks off at the Hangzhou Grand Theatre on the evening of April 11. [Photo/hangzhou2022.cn]

The 2023 Hangzhou Music Festival kicked off at the Hangzhou Grand Theatre on the evening of April 11, local media outlets reported.

As a special concert for the Asian Games, the opening ceremony featured a series of original works and Asian Games songs that blended music and sports in a way that broke with traditional symphonic forms, delighting audiences.

One highlight of the event was a large-scale symphonic poem entitled Thousand-Mile Scenery, inspired by the painting of the same name by the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) artist Wang Ximeng. The work portrayed the great spiritual world of the Chinese nation, open and inclusive to all.

The concert also featured a selection from the symphony Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, which combined the ancient painting of the same name by the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) artist Huang Gongwang with symphonic music to display the prosperity and cultural vitality of modern Hangzhou.

A group of singers presented a medley of Hangzhou Asian Games songs to the audience, including The Most Beautiful Scenery, the promotional song of the host city Hangzhou, From Now Until the Future, the official theme song of the Games, and We Are All the Same, the promotional song for the Hangzhou Asian Para Games.

The most anticipated performance of the evening was undoubtedly the debut of the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra's original works composed to welcome the Asian Games.

The 2023 Hangzhou Music Festival boasts the largest number of performances in the history of the event, with a total of 42 shows to be performed over the next 20 days, including classical symphonies, operas, choirs, ballet film symphonies, traditional Chinese music, poetry, and ancient zither music.

Chinese cultural elements shine at the music festival on April 11. [Photo/hangzhou2022.cn]