Photo: Courtesy of MISA

The arrival of summer would be nothing without music. The Music in the Summer Air (MISA) festival will return to Shanghai with 30 performances staged across the city from July 7 to 20. Of these, 16 will be streamed online for free. 

The annual summer music festival staged by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will open with the Light in the Universe concert, which will play music from The Three-Body Fantasy, a musical adaption by musician Fay Kueen Wang of Liu Cixin's popular sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem, and Symphony No.1 The Metaverse by Elliot Leung, according to Yu Long, the orchestra's music director. 

MISA has been a platform for young people who love music to practice boldly and explore freely. This edition of the festival is no exception. Conductor David Stern will work with Rino Yoshimoto, the youngest player in the 2023 Isaac Stern International Violin Competition and who is cooperating with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra for the first time.

On July 20, under Yu's baton, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will close the festival by performing The Yellow River concerto together with pianist Yin Chengzong. As the most frequently played piano concerto in the history of Chinese music, The Yellow River has become a spiritual symbol of music in the country.