Chen Zhuming from China Arts Foundation.  Photo: Xia Zi

To mark the centennial anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, a touring concert series called The Light of Renaissance will be staged in six Chinese cities including Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan and Beijing from August 7 to 19. The six concerts under the program Aiyue Practice Public Education Program (APPEP), will be presented by the Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Central Conservatory of Music Chorus, with conductors Lin Daye and Liao Guomin.

It has been three years since the APPEP founded by the China Arts Foundation, made its debut in 2008 to answer the call of high art entering university campuses. The program aims to get young people more involved in music appreciation by holding campus concerts and other activities. 

This year also marks the 100th anniversary of China's Xinhai Revolution, which ended the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and introduced the idea of a republic to Chinese citizens. The 13-day touring performance will offer a chance for young people in the six cities to communicate with music. And the music will act as a bridge to allow them to learn more about that period of history.

The organizers believe that such a young orchestra with its members aged between 18 and 25 will definitely move their peers with songs including opera Song of Eternal Lament adapted by musician Zhou Ye, Song of Fate by Johannes Brahms and Antonin Leopold Dvorak's Symphony No 9 (From the New World) in Macao, Taipei, Nanjing, Wuhan and Beijing gigs.

In Shanghai, the organizers hope to stage something different by selecting 11 popular folk songs from around the world from Russian song "Night in the Suburb of Moscow" to Italian "Santa Lucia." They will also stage Slavonic and Polish dances.

Catch the Beijing concert August 19 at the Forbidden City Concert Hall.