Starry nights on stage

Conductor Yang Li will lead two concerts by the Beijing Philharmonic Choir on Sunday, one each in the afternoon and late evening. The famous children's choir was founded in 1983 by Yang's father, the late Yang Hongnian, a veteran musician and music educator. The group had performed at the opening ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

"Choral music is well-received by Chinese audiences. We will perform popular children's songs, and will have the audiences sing along," Yang Li says.

The highlight of the choir's program is Let Us Sway Twin Oars, a song that featured in the 1955 Chinese movie Flowers of Our Motherland, regarded as the first children's flick after 1949. Listening to Mother Telling Stories in the Past, a children's song released in 1957, and Snowflakes, the theme song of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, are on the list too.

Songs by Chinese ethnic groups will also be performed at the concert to celebrate the unique diversity of the country's culture, Yang Li adds.

Star performers of the Jingju Theater Company of Beijing will take center stage on Monday with a dedication to contemporary Peking Opera composed by Zhu Shaoyu. The 76-year-old has been composing for the genre for five decades and one of his best-known works is Peking Opera Red Cliff, which premiered in 2008 and toured both home and abroad.

Peking Opera, or jingju, has a history of more than 200 years and was recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010. It brings together a multitude of art forms, including singing, dancing, martial arts and acrobatics.