The 2nd Music Festival of China's Central Conservatory of Music (CCM) opened with a concert of Chinese music performed by CCM students Saturday in Beijing.
The 10-day festival will include 14 concerts performed by six different departments, including composition, vocals and symphony music.
The festival is an inner-school artistic practice, aiming at enhancing the students' practical skills in performing, creating and music criticism, and fully display the teaching fruits of CCM.
The CCM, together with the Chinese Musicians' Association, will host a series of activities commemorating first-generation Chinese violinist Ma Sicong. A panel discussion and two concerts will be held from Dec. 23 to 24. A book about the musician's life will also be presented to the public.
Ma Sicong, born in 1912, went to France twice during his lifetime to study the violin and to study composition. He was known as "China's musical genius" at 17 years of age. He served as chairman of the CCM before settling down in the United States in 1966. He died in 1987 in Philadelphia.
(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2002)
