On the stage, a "Happy Birthday Song" was played, and warm applause rang out on the scene. On January 7th, Cadillac Shanghai Concert Hall public welfare brand "Music Afternoon Tea" ushered in the 10th anniversary of the special project.
Violin Zhang Yang, viola Liu Nian, Shi Yucheng, Wu Jingyu, Yuan Shike, cello Luo Weixi, piano Wang Chen, guitar Liu Xianji, accordion Zhou Quan, formed the "Musical Afternoon Tea" 10th Anniversary Festival Orchestra, bringing a wonderful concert. Julian Arcas's "Havana Fantasia", Piazzolla's "History of Tango", Skaros Gader's "One Step Away", and Piazzola's "Free Tango" took turns to celebrate the tenth birthday of "Musical Afternoon Tea" with the "Afternoon Tea" audience present.
At noon for an hour, the aroma of tea wafted into the city. As the only public welfare concert brand in The country that is regularly open to the public during the day on weekdays, this "music lunch tea" has been fragrant for a decade since 2012. In the past ten years, the musical atmosphere in Shanghai has become increasingly strong, and the heart of the people of music afternoon tea has not changed, and this cup of "tea" has also quietly nourished the beautiful life of the people of The Magic Capital.
Support newcomers and help local musicians
On January 7, 2012, a new public welfare brand "Music Afternoon Tea" made its debut at the Shanghai Concert Hall. Every weekday noon, with a low ticket price of 30 yuan, you can enter the South Hall of the Concert Hall and enjoy a small salon-style concert. Young performers and music newcomers have successively taken the stage, folk music, chamber music, classical music take turns, whether it is busy office workers, or tourists who come to Shanghai, you can feel a poetic dialogue between the heart and music here.
Since its birth, "Music Afternoon Tea" has established a "low threshold, high quality" people-friendly positioning. How to make the audience believe that "low threshold can also hear good music" has become one of the problems facing the Shanghai Concert Hall. Although the famous troupe attracts attention, it is also the responsibility of a concert hall to promote outstanding newcomers to the society. Therefore, in 2012, when the performing arts market tended to be diversified, helping local musicians became the first fragrance of "music afternoon tea".
Chen Yibai, a young cellist currently studying at the Basel Conservatory in Switzerland, is the winner of the "Chai Sai", and one of the places where he cannot grow up is the Shanghai Concert Hall. "It starts out with the audience. When I was a child, almost all good performances were concentrated in the Shanghai Concert Hall. When I was seven or eight years old, I first took the stage as a performer with the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, and I was deeply impressed by the gorgeous stage. ”
Later, he became acquainted with "Music Afternoon Tea", and Chen Yibai's intersection with the concert hall was even more. In his view, unlike large and elegant concerts, the characteristics of "Musical Afternoon Tea" are small and beautiful, "there is almost zero distance between the performers and the audience, and the beauty of the performance lies precisely in the feeling of immersive music appreciation." Ordinary audiences can also be exposed to classical music in this world, which plays an important role in the popularization and promotion of classical music. For young musicians, it is also an indispensable bridge on the road to growth. ”
This point is also deeply appreciated by the young tenor singer Guo Zizhao, because an important turning point in his musical career occurred in the "musical afternoon tea". In 2012, Guo Zizhao, who was still a junior at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music at the time, participated in the first vocal performance of "Music Afternoon Tea", and although it was only a brief appearance, for a college student, it was already a moment when the dream shone into reality.
In May of the same year, a concert of "Future Musicians" was staged at the Shanghai Concert Hall, and Guo Zizhao took the stage again and presented two solo songs. The excellent performance in that performance made the Shanghai Concert Hall once again see the infinite potential of this future star, so there was a third appearance of Guo Zizhao 5 months later, and completed the transformation of a new musician with a solo concert.
Guo Zizhao still clearly remembers the scene of that day, "A total of 15 works were sung, all of which were extremely demanding songs, which was a huge challenge for me, and there were 980 spectators who attended the scene that day." This number has always been firmly imprinted in Guo Zizhao's heart, "I didn't expect that a sophomore's solo concert could attract so many people to buy tickets to see." ”
Guo Zizhao lamented that this great affirmation is largely due to the good reputation of the Shanghai Concert Hall among Shencheng music fans, as well as the support and assistance of "music afternoon tea" for young musicians. "It was the first time I stepped onto a world-class stage as a protagonist, which was not only a professional breakthrough, but also affected my thinking about my career." Today, Guo Zizhao has become the world's rising opera star, and has won several vocal awards at home and abroad.
Young violinist Zhang Yang is a member of the orchestra of the 10th anniversary of the "Musical Afternoon Tea", and he and the "Musical Afternoon Tea" have also been friends for 10 years. In 2012, before graduating, he debuted on the "Music Afternoon Tea", which became the best platform for him to accumulate performance experience and participate in international competitions. 10 years later, coming to this stage again, Zhang Yang said: "I grew up on this stage and am very grateful for this stage. ”
Two-way mutual training, one hour at noon nourishes the cultural life of the citizens
As a public welfare brand, the original intention of "music afternoon tea" has never changed. In the past ten years, the performance forms and styles of "Music Afternoon Tea" have been diversified, in addition to the regular launch of special projects, there are special celebrations every hundred and every anniversary, as well as summer theme weeks, winter vacation lecture series and other forms. Therefore, a development model of two-way mutual training between the audience and the artist has been formed here.
In the field of classical music that Chen Yibai is familiar with, there is a tradition of "please do not applaud between movements". Chen Yibai remembers that when he was a child, when he watched a performance at the Shanghai Concert Hall, although the atmosphere was very strong, many people did not know much about the etiquette of watching the performance. In recent years, I have clearly felt that Shanghai audiences are getting better and better in this regard.
"In the past, everyone loved to listen to concerts, but now they not only love to listen, but also listen, and the musicians and the audience have slowly reached a tacit understanding of 'do not applaud between movements'." In Chen Yibai's view, behind this tacit understanding is the overall improvement of the musical literacy of Shanghai audiences, and the transformation is inseparable from the silent cultivation of "music afternoon tea". "The concert is not only a performance on stage, but also an important part of the audience, and the positive interaction between the two can lead to a successful concert." It is undeniable that the small space of music lunch tea has silently cultivated more and more professional audiences and senior music fans who understand music for the big stage of the concert hall. ”
Guo Zizhao also lamented that over the years, from Shanghai to Milan, he has boarded large and small concert halls, but the Shanghai Concert Hall has always had its own place in his heart, and the music lunch tea is like an old friend.
"Here you don't need to sit in front of you, it's very relaxed, it's comfortable, the audience will communicate with you like old friends, you can feel the love of ordinary citizens for art, and you can see the responsibility of theater people for a city." Musically, there are not only familiar classics, but also some new works, the audience is equally tolerant. In Guo Zizhao's view, in the past ten years, the impact of music afternoon tea on the artistic literacy of Shanghai audiences has been subtle.
Mr. Lu, who participated in the 10th anniversary concert, first came into contact with music afternoon tea in 2014, "When I met music afternoon tea, it was when I changed jobs, the pressure of new work was high, and I came to music afternoon tea by chance. The professionalism of the performance on stage and the enthusiasm of the audience around me deeply touched me. "In recent years, as long as I have time, he often comes to the concert hall," the music lunch tea healed an ordinary office worker, accompanied me out of the most difficult period of work, and brought me the temperature of the city." ”
Pioneering and innovative, spreading Shanghai urban culture to the world
The 10th anniversary scene opened with the "Musical Afternoon Tea" promotional film, which reviewed the wonderful moments brought to the audience by "Musical Afternoon Tea" in the past 10 years and listened to the blessing videos brought by the artists from all over the world. At the same time, the special planned concert for the 10th anniversary of music afternoon tea was also broadcast live audio on the "online version of music afternoon tea" Himalaya platform.
In the past ten years, the fragrance emitted by this sincere "music afternoon tea" has already filled Shencheng, and has become the only public welfare concert brand in the country that is regularly open to the public during the weekday day, and the Shanghai Concert Hall is also affectionately known as the "music living room".
According to the data, in the past ten years, a total of 1927 music lunch teas have been staged, and more than 6,300 young artists have appeared on this stage, with about 12,000 songs performed and 200,080 audiences.
In the autumn of 2021, coinciding with the 1900th issue of music afternoon tea, Shanghai Concert Hall specially launched a new "online version of music afternoon tea" (audio version), selecting weekly wonderful live performance clips, putting them on the platform to share with music fans, and at the same time conducting audio live broadcasts from time to time, so that more audiences who cannot go to the scene can also have "music afternoon tea" without leaving home.
At the fourth China International Import Expo, "Music Afternoon Tea" has never been absent. A small "into BoLan" space, with music as the carrier, allows more people to see the style of Shanghai musicians, feel the enthusiasm of Shanghai literature and art, and also become the "most beautiful service window" for spreading Shanghai urban culture.
Nowadays, in the South Hall of the Shanghai Concert Hall, there are still beautiful notes coming out at noon on weekdays. 30 yuan public welfare ticket, European elegant space, some people sit in groups of three or five around the small round table, some people bury their bodies in the back sofa to listen, and some people sit in the side seat and watch. A song was sung, and applause rang out. In the applause, there is the growing love, the understanding and respect for music, and more is the happiness of the beautiful life that the citizens of Shencheng City have been constantly nourished by the "music afternoon tea" in the past ten years.
"Standing at the beginning of a new decade, we hope that from 2022, the 'music afternoon tea' will be further upgraded." Not only invite citizens to enter the Shanghai Concert Hall to listen, but also take the initiative to go out, so that this cup of 'tea' is not only limited to the Shanghai Concert Hall, but also to all parts of Shanghai, so that more citizens who love music can benefit. Fang Liang, general manager of Cadillac Shanghai Concert Hall, said.