This year's Music in the Summer Air (MISA) festival took music to the streets of Shanghai from July 9 to 15, performing classical music in public spaces, for free, such as Xiangyang Park, Wukang Road tourist center, Zi-Ka-Wei library and in front of the ancient Longhua Tower.

Three musicians — a violinist, a saxophonist and a flutist — played carefully selected programs in six locations in Xuhui district. Beneath the Longhua Tower, they chose a series of Chinese compositions such as The Moon of Guanshan and The Pastoral Song, as well as two pieces from the 12 Fantasias for Flute by Georg Philipp Telemann, to bring out the best in the site's acoustics.

"You are much closer to the audience than playing in a formal concert hall," says Fan Jiaying, the flutist, who was a graduate of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy in 2021. "Many people make recordings with their smartphone, and after the performance I heard among the crowd someone replaying the piece. I really feel their passion for the music."

Also, there are all kinds of unexpected sounds when you play in an open public space, she says. At Xiangyang Park, they played an adapted version of Chopin: Nocturnes, accompanied by the chirping of cicadas. "They made a quite big noise and I had to play as loudly as I could. It was quite a special experience of the summer."

Founded by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in 2010, MISA is a cross-genre music festival centering on classical music. This year the festival's formal shows (where tickets were required) took place from July 7 to 20, featuring 30 events at three venues — the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall, the outdoor Shanghai Urban Music Lawn and the TRI Space at the Blackstone Apartment, a historical building on Fuxing Middle Road.

"The 143-year-old Shanghai Symphony Orchestra was born and developed in this city, going through ups and downs alongside it," says Zhou Ping, director of the symphony orchestra. "MISA is a classical music party for the whole city. We hope everyone in the city can enjoy the fun of music and get immersed in the beauty of it."

There was a music-themed evening city walk on Saturday for 30 people from the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Led by staff of the archives department at the orchestra, they visited a series of historical buildings. "Walking in the shade of sycamore trees along the Fuxing Middle Road, to Fenyang Road, Huaihai Road and Wuyuan Road, we would pass by the German-style little 'music castle' on the premises of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the former residence of pioneering Chinese composer Nie Er, the Shanghai Yueju Opera House, and a large number of important historical buildings," says Hu Yanqiong, a staff member with the artistic archives department at the orchestra.

A regular part of the festival program since 2016, MISA Students' Ensemble gave a concert under the baton of Zhang Jiemin, a resident conductor with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, on Sunday. This year more than 600 students aged between 10-16 applied to join the ensemble. The 44-piece ensemble went through intensive training and rehearsal with professional musicians of the orchestra for 10 days, before presenting a formal concert at the Shanghai Symphony Hall.

"More than half of the kids had no experience playing in an ensemble," Zhang said before the concert. It takes long and systematic training to be part of an ensemble, but playing with others brought new fulfillment to young musicians such as Li Yichen, a 14-year-old clarinet player. "When you play in an ensemble, you need to learn to communicate with other members with your body and sight, instead of just being a shining star under the stage light by yourself. It feels great to be part of a team."

The ensemble played Serenade No 13 for Strings in G Major by Mozart, Sicilienne from Pelleas et Melisande by Faure, and Symphony No 40 in G Minor by Mozart at the chamber hall of the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall on July 16.

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