Bringing music to gourmets

It will be one of the rare occasions in Beijing when haute cuisine meets haute culture when China World Summit Wing hosts a festive New Year's concert for guests. Chen Nan and Li Fusheng report.

There is every likelihood that you will be handed a musical program instead of a menu on New Year's Day at Beijing's China World Summit Wing Hotel. In fact, you can count on it to be the feast to start the year - a bountiful banquet for the senses. Working with the Central Conservatory of Music's EOS Repertoire Orchestra, the hotel will present music aficionados with a chance to enjoy a classical repertoire from celebrated composers, such as Peter Tchaikovsky, Johann Strauss II and Franz Schubert.

"I love music. It is the food of the spirit," general manager Thomas Schmitt-Glaeser says as he supervises the transformation of the 81-story hotel's huge pillar-free ballroom into a concert hall with optimum acoustics.

"We initiated the concert to bring together people from different backgrounds who love art and life, through the charm and power of music." A carefully thought out menu by executive chef Oliver Weber will certainly help the cause.

The four-course menu draws inspiration from the hotel's international restaurants, and is injected with influences from Chinese, Japanese and Western cuisines, says Weber.

"As a prelude to the concert, I hope they can feel the change of rhyme in the menu. Paired with selected wines, the dinner will be a mesmerizing event for every bon vivant and music lover in the capital."

The Shangri-La hotel sees the event as an effort to break the stereotype of hotels as just places to eat and sleep, and sees itself as taking on more roles and multiple functions. The hotel has already held other crossover events this year, a vertical marathon and a contest for fashion designers.

"We are advocates of the art of life, and we wish to herald a new, elegant and fashionable lifestyle through such events," says Schmitt-Glaeser.

On the other hand, Hu Yongyan, the Chinese-American conductor who will be holding the baton at the New Year's Day concert, has strong views on cultivating talent in China and he is putting his money where his mouth is.

He was invited by his alma mater, the Central Conservatory of Music, to establish Asia's first Orchestra Academy as a graduate school for training orchestral performers in 2004. He took up the challenge because he has always felt that orchestral talents were lacking here, even though there is no lack of soloists.

In 2006, he established the EOS Repertoire Orchestra at the Central Conservatory of Music. All members are top graduates from China's music conservatories.

Hu named the orchestra EOS, which means "dawn" in Greek. It's also the name of the goddess of dawn in Greek mythology, whose children are the stars in the sky. The goddess releases her children every night to let them shine on the whole world.

According to Hu, EOS Repertoire Orchestra teaches and provides various opportunities for young musicians, who want to become stars in the classical music field.

Through performing at public events and concerts, and cooperating with artists of different fields, such as filmmakers, Peking Opera masters and rock musicians, the orchestra helps prepare young Chinese musical talents for positions in orchestras and ensembles around the world.

"Classical music in China has been developing so fast that it comes with its own set of problems. Many children learn music because of their parents want them to. They are motivated by the extra points for college entrance exams, winning awards at various competitions and the hope that their children will become the next Lang Lang," says Hu, 57, who graduated from Yale University and the Juilliard School in 1989.

"Many young Chinese give up music when they graduate from the conservatory because they cannot find good jobs as musicians. Some choose to go abroad to further their studies but still cannot find jobs, so they come back. I want to provide promising young Chinese musicians an efficient and inspiring platform, and help them adjust."

The EOS Repertoire Orchestra's concert, at China World Summit Wing at 7 pm on Jan 1, will see young musicians perform Johann Strauss II's Fledermaus Overture, Puccini's None Shall Sleep Tonight from Turandot, Tchaikovsky's Russian Dance from Swan Lake and Schubert's Ave Maria.

Under the baton of Hu, the concert will also feature cellist Zhao Xuyang and violinist Gao Can.

"It's a new experience for EOS. We need to walk into society, to be among all kinds of people," says Hu.

Contact the writers at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn and lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn.