The indigo curtain slowly descended, and lines of code and keywords such as freedom, soulfulness, stretch, and metal were typed on the subtitles. National musical instruments such as suona, guzheng, and ruan took turns, and traditional Chinese music of different styles was performed one by one.
And did you know, this is a folk music performance full of technological content - on April 13th and 14th, the 2024-2025 Shanghai Chinese Orchestra performance season kicked off, and the orchestra’s original new work "Zero·One|Chinese Color" was released in China. The music and AI concert premiered at the 39th Shanghai Spring International Music Festival. This is also the first Chinese music concert created by AI in the country.
"Zero·One|Chinese Color" is one of the strategic cooperation projects between the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra and Tencent Music Entertainment Group (tme). The large musical model jointly developed by Tencent Music and Tencent AI Lab has been applied to the cooperation with the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra for the first time. middle. Based on deep learning, the Qinyue Big Model generates high-quality music through "text-to-compose" instructions, explores the combination of national musical instruments, and continuously explores and expands the artistic dimension of folk music.
Liu Xiankai, vice president of Tencent Music Entertainment Group, said: "AI can not only improve the creative efficiency of music creators and use technology to obtain creative inspiration; on the other hand, AI will also become an important carrier for the realization of human imagination, helping more people complete music creation. , to realize their pursuit and emotional expression of music." Luo Xiaoci, the chief planner and artistic director of
's "Zero One | Chinese Color" said: "Ethnic music and modern technology have achieved an in-depth cooperation from zero to one, and the artists have achieved this. Through their second creations and diverse interpretations, they have given their works a unique emotional expression. We hope that through this musical innovation experiment, we will bring new possibilities to the development of traditional folk music."
For the orchestra players. In other words, working with AI for the first time is fresh and interesting. Yu Bing, chief of the Pipa section of the orchestra, said: "I didn't expect that AI would retain the original charm of Pipa, incorporate popular elements, and write melodies that are very suitable for the listening sense of today's young people. In the era of artificial intelligence, humans and AI coexist harmoniously. Let’s work together to create Chinese music works that meet contemporary aesthetics.”
ai’s creation breaks the inherent thinking model, which provides artists with greater, faster and more possibilities for their second creation, which is refreshing and challenging at the same time. Zhao Zhen, chief of the sheng section of the
orchestra, said: "What AI produces is just music scores, which still lack some vitality. This requires us to constantly practice adjustments and provide modification instructions to AI to broaden the listening and beauty of the works."
In order to revitalize national instrumental music With the personalized characteristics, the performers invested heavily in arranging the music during the creation and arrangement process, constantly bursting out inspiration and imagination, and conveying richer musical emotions and artistic appeal.
For example, the Ruan duet "Han Li" has fresh and pure colors. Ruan musical instruments of different voices are on the stage one after another. The performers are also a group of young girls. The music style has both Chinese style and jazz. It is romantic, lovely, elegant and refined. The sense of beauty arouses the imagination and resonance of the audience.
The orchestra carefully selected eight Chinese colors based on the style of the music and the personal characteristics of the performers. They are not only beautiful when presented individually, but also have integration and coordination when combined.
's performance broke through the traditional framed stage. The orchestra showed the glass curtain wall behind the stage according to the characteristics of the venue. Whether it was a night show or an afternoon show, Shanghai-style folk music combined with the beautiful scenery of Shanghai's Pujiang River that changes day and night to present unique and new ideas. and ingenuity.
Under the night, the glass mirror reflects the figures of the performers and the audience sharing Chinese music. In the afternoon, the green trees are full of vitality, and there is a unique taste of life. Here, Chinese music, national colors, heaven and earth, nature and modern cities are integrated into one, matching the main stage The newly built catwalk in front of the venue not only broadens the visual boundaries and performance space, but also brings the distance between artists and audiences closer.
This year, the orchestra’s series of original brands “Made in Shanghai” will make a wonderful return.
On the May 4th Youth Day, the orchestra's "Youth Party" series of cross-border concerts "Your Chinese Music" will set off the youthful voice of traditional Chinese music;
During the summer period from July 11 to August 3, the Chinese style music scene "On the Sea" "Life and Folk Music" returns to the Shanghai Concert Hall. Since its premiere, the work has completed four rounds of performances in three years and has presented 100 wonderful performances.
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the motherland, the "National Music Ode to China" concert will use the sound of national music on the National Day to express our love and respect for the motherland, and witness with the audience the diverse presentation of Shanghai-style folk music. The endless life force of ancient civilization.
On October 6th and 7th, "Above the Clouds - Let Hearing Start from the East" will return to the 1862 Fashion Art Center, leading the audience to experience the natural, flexible, simple and simple oriental aesthetics, and explore the nation through the music language with pioneering consciousness. A new path for contemporary musical expression.
In addition, a series of special concerts are also coming.
International Music Rhythm's "Encounter" series "Suona×Bagpipe×Electronic Sound" cross-border music scene, the orchestra's suona player Hu Chenyun will join hands with Scottish bagpipe players to perform cross-border works with diverse styles, opening a musical dialogue across the East and West ;
"Yao Pei Jing Zheng Zheng" Liu Bo and "Fashion Pin Xian" special concert, showing the charming charm of Ruan art; Zhao Zhen, the principal of the Sheng section of the orchestra, will perform a series of Sheng music works of different arrangements and styles in the solo concert, showing The youthful voice of ancient instruments; the concert of Gu Guanren's works will bring together a group of performers to perform Mr. Gu Guanren's four pipa concertos. The newly created three-movement pipa concerto "Youth" will also have its premiere, led by the orchestra's resident conductor Yao Shenshen. Hold the baton.
In addition, at Ma Xiaohui's special concert, erhu performer Ma Xiaohui will use his international vision and profound musical skills to convey the fashionable temperament and colorful colors of the ancient instrument erhu; the "Landscape Collection" concert will be conducted by the orchestra's resident conductor Peng Fei performs a batch of contemporary folk music works with landscape themes, and together with the audience find the true nature of life in the natural landscape; the Min Huifen Memorial Concert will commemorate this former teacher through music and express his longing and respect.
On the occasion of the New Year, the orchestra's series of concerts "Happy and Peaceful Chinese Year" and "Happy and Peaceful Year of Reunion" will also come as scheduled, bringing a successful conclusion to the orchestra's performance season. This year, the orchestra’s original art education brand “Shanghai Music Talk” will continue to bring a variety of public welfare activities to benefit the people.
In the 2024-2025 new music season of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, we look forward to experiencing the cultural imprint and contemporary style of Shanghai-style folk music on a wonderful journey of exploring "music" with our audience and friends, and leaving an unforgettable memory of Chinese music.
