Chinese music fans are reportedly excited to experience a world-class live music as Recording Academy, creator of Grammy awards, announced that it will hold a music festival in China in 2018.
The music festival which will feature Grammy-winning artists was officially confirmed on August 3 in Beijing, China.
"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. "We hope the Grammy Festival not only further elevates the music industry but also engages other industries to create powerful, global intellectual products," adding that the US-based academy and Chinese company Bravo Entertainment will be joining together for making the festival in China possible.
"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. "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."
Portnow did not yet reveal the festival dates for next year.
"My philosophy about something like that is to find wine in its time," he said, adding that there are more important things to take note in order to make the music festival possible.
"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," he added, explaining why he chose China.
