Songs of the world serenade Shanghai

At a festival party, musicians from different countries played together and created a musical language that has never been heard before.

"We were listening to each other and trying to catch each other's ideas," says Song, who played guitar and banjo in the jam session.

"I hope this kind of exchange will continue. It is even more important than music itself."

Chinese musicians from different regions also played together at the festival.

Four years ago, Song traveled to Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and met folk musician Ubulhasan. Song was inspired by the traditional Uygur music of Ubulhasan and decided to work with him in his new project.

In the show titled A Magic Musical Encounter at the festival, Song and Ubulhasan blended their music and lyrics, and the result was refreshing. Their performance also appealed to different audiences.

"The best thing about World Music Shanghai is that we provide a platform for different musical cultures from around the world to meet," says Yang Lei, director of the festival.

"I hope Chinese music will become a more and more important part of world music through our festival."

World Music Shanghai started in 2008 as part of Shanghai's events to welcome the World Expo 2010. During the World Expo, the World Music Shanghai went on for 184 days - the entire duration of the World Expo - showcasing music from all over the world, as well as from various regions of China.

After the World Expo, the festival continued to be held, and last year it was broken into the spring and autumn editions. This year, the autumn edition will be held in October.

The performances of this year's World Music Shanghai were held in both downtown areas and some suburb towns, like Sanlin in the Pudong New Area. All the shows were free of charge.

"I hope the festival will attract more people to appreciate world music, so that world music will have a bigger market in China," Yang says.

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Special: Music Festivals