GRAMMY TREAT AHEAD
Creator of the Grammy Awards announces a touring festival of world-class musicians in China. Chen Jie reports.
Music fans in China can expect to experience world-class live music, with the Recording Academy, creator of the Grammy Awards, announcing that it will hold a Grammy Festival in the country in 2018.
The festival, a touring show featuring Grammy-winning artists, was announced on Aug 3 in Beijing.
“China continues to expand and grow its role as a force in attracting and engaging world artists,” says Neil Portnow, 69, chairman and CEO, Recording Academy.
The US-based academy and the Chinese company Bravo Entertainment will hold the festival in China.
“We hope the Grammy Festival not only further elevates the music industry but also engages other industries to create powerful, global intellectual products,” he told reporters in Beijing after the event was announced.
“I know some Chinese classical musicians such as Lang Lang, Tan Dun and Wu Tong who won this year’s Grammy Awards with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, but we want more young musicians. I know hip-hop and jazz are also growing in China. That’s what we want to do — to discover next-generation musicians for different kinds of music, to encourage them there is good future in music industry,” he said on Aug 3.
During the news conference in Beijing, a traditional Chinese band gave a drum performance.
Portnow says that if Grammy-winning musicians saw that, they would go: “I want to play with them onstage.”
“If you watch the Grammys, you know the favorite thing we like to do is unusual combinations, not predictable, combination of different generations, different genres and so this is perfect to mix up.”
But Portnow did not reveal the festival dates for next year.
“My philosophy about something like that is to find wine in its time,” he says, adding that the more important thing was to make the festival work out well.
The idea of bringing such a festival to China came in 2008 when Portnow was preparing for the Grammys’ 50th anniversary. He says he wanted to do classical music and jazz for the show.
“We don’t always do that. But 50th was a big anniversary, so we wanted to do something different,” says Portnow, a fan of both classical music and jazz.
He found two interesting pianists among that year’s nominees — legendary jazz musician Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang, a popular Chinese classical musician.
“So I talked to Ken Ehrlich, producer and director of the Grammys (in 2008), to discuss how we could combine them,” Portnow recalls.
Accompanied by a full orchestra, Hancock and Lang Lang — four hands together — played George Gershwin’s repertoire Rhapsody in Blue, with beguiling flair, setting the stage for the fireworks that concluded the show on Feb 10, 2008.
The awards also got the Chinese pianist named as the official ambassador of the Grammys in China.
Lang Lang invited Portnow to watch the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and introduced him to some key people in the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and musicians, including Yu Long, who is arguably the bestknown Chinese conductor in the West.
“We talked about China, music and found (that) we share the same values to bridge cultures,” says Portnow.
“Because (Chinese) culture is quite different, it seems for us that it’s important to do cultural exchanges, not just for the Grammys but for society and for people to find ways to build bridges. So we started to think about how we could do something here.”
Portnow came to China a few times after that and watched the annual Beijing Music Festival, created by Yu.
But bridging culture isn’t easy. Making phones is easier because the process is technical, he says.
“When you are making art, it’s very open and creative, and it’s unpredictable. You have two cultures, two economies, two government systems, different regulations, time change, the distance, all of them make challenges, but anything good is worth doing. It takes work and we are prepared for the work.”
The Recording Academy and the local company Bravo Entertainment have established China Music Vision Ltd, a partnership company, to work on the Grammy Festival in the country.
“We need local people who understand China and music, know both business and art,” says Portnow.
Chinese people may feel familiar with the Grammy Awards but many don’t know that it was the Recording Academy that created the awards in 1957.
“For 60 years, they’ve worked to help the world musically and culturally. They protect musicians’ rights and provide music education in poor communities,” says Michael Sun, CEO, China Music Vision Ltd.
“We hope to use the platform to bring more Chinese musicians to the world stage and connect them to the international music community.”
The Chinese audience can watch the Grammys on TV, but Bravo Entertainment wanted to go a step further and bring them a live-concert experience with Chinese cultural elements in it, says company CEO Steven Fock.
“We will try to carry on the excellence that the Grammys are known for.”
We hope to use the platform to bring more Chinese musicians to the world stage.” Michael Sun, CEO, China Music Vision Ltd China continues to expand and grow its role as a force in attracting and engaging world artists.” Neil Portnow, chairman and CEO, Recording Academy