Luo Xiaoci, representative of the 11th Wen Dynasty: Responding to the heavy responsibilities of the times and striving to promote the contemporary expression of Chinese folk music

After listening to the general secretary's speech today, I feel very excited. In recent years, the central authorities have attached great importance to cultural and literary and artistic work, and the general secretary has put forward the judgment of "the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture" and so on, which have also guided our pursuit of Shanghai folk music in recent years. After listening to the speech, one felt that the burden of responsibility on my shoulders was heavier. The role of culture is bacon to shape the soul, this root and soul should be the Chinese root and the Chinese soul, folk music is a splendid branch of China's excellent traditional culture, so how to do a good job in the inheritance and innovation of this Chinese national music is the heavy responsibility we have to give back to this era. I often wonder whether contemporary Chinese folk music can be worthy of China's current international status and whether it can reflect the rejuvenation of national culture. It feels like a heavy responsibility and a sense of urgency. The second is that while feeling very excited, we must still insist on promoting the contemporary expression of folk music, and work harder on the contemporary temperament of folk music, art is to serve the people, but the aesthetics and rhythms of contemporary audiences have changed. Of course, this is not exactly to follow or to have leadership, but this kind of leadership should be close to the people's guidance, so we must work how to do a good job in contemporary expression of contemporary temperament. Over the years, we have also done some exploration on this road, and we should say that we have also achieved some results. In the next step, we must take root in the people, create more high-quality folk music works, integrate professional quality and the uniqueness and recognition of Chinese national culture to show well, and communicate with the world with high-level art. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that Chinese civilization continues the spiritual bloodline of our country and nation, which needs to be passed on from generation to generation, and it also needs to keep pace with the times and innovate. Therefore, how to adapt the Chinese cultural gene to contemporary culture, how to make art works close to the pulse of the times, and convey the cultural spirit that transcends time and space, transcends national boundaries, is full of eternal charm and contemporary value, is an important issue facing contemporary national music creators.

In 2016, the shanghai chinese orchestra's original work "Folk Music on the Sea" premiered as the opening concert of the 18th China Shanghai International Arts Festival. Drawing artistic inspiration from the spirit of traditional Chinese culture, the main creative team created a new stage form of "Multimedia Music Scene", which tells the love of mountains and rivers, the love of home and country, and the unity of the world. Since then, the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra has begun to consciously carry out the extension and incubation of the "Sea Folk Music" music brand, and has successively created different stage versions such as the fully composed national orchestra concert and the folk music chamber music. The music brand of "Sea Folk Music" has appeared on the stage of well-known concert halls and art festivals at home and abroad in various performance forms, with a reputation in the industry, market influence and audience appeal.

This autumn, the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra's newly created "Folk Music on the Sea" Guofeng Music Scene was stationed in the Shanghai Music Landmark Cadillac Shanghai Concert Hall in the form of a long-term resident performance. Through the intertextual expression of Chinese music, light and shadow, and stage space, the performance constructs a poetic realm containing traditional beauty and a contemporary temperament. In the process of creation and residency in the past six months, we have deeply explored the new path of folk music creation, created a new model of folk music performance, and sought a new relationship between folk music and the audience, meeting old friends and new acquaintances in the audience group of 15,000 people. Riding on the integration of culture and tourism, the music brand of "Sea Folk Music" has once again achieved quality expansion and become a window to show Chinese music culture to Chinese and foreign audiences.

Backed by tradition and facing the present, we look forward to showing the world the broad embrace of Chinese culture with contemporary Shanghai folk music. In the future, we will continue to explore the closer connection between folk music and Chinese culture, with the city, and with contemporary audiences, and continue to expand the marginal effect of folk music art, and contribute to the construction of urban cultural soft power.

Author: Jiang Fang

Editor: Wang Licheng

Editor-in-Charge: Liu Qing

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