Holiday music strikes sweet note for public

The holidays have become a time for many Chinese to enjoy serious music, as indicated by the rising number of concerts held across the country to mark the Western New Year.

"There were about 70 New Year's concerts nationwide last year, and the number increased to more than 100 this year," said Zheng Ying, deputy general manager of Beijing Artists Management Corp Ltd (BJAMC).

As a State-owned artists agency, BJAMC entered the holiday concert market in 1996, when it organized the Beijing New Year's Concert at the Great Hall of the People on Dec 31. Every year since then, the agency has put together a similar event.

At first, the company mainly invited domestic orchestras, only later adding overseas orchestras.

The annual concert in the Great Hall of the People always features top-caliber orchestras, famous conductors and renowned masterpieces.

It's an expensive event. The cost ranges from 4 million yuan ($633,000) to 5 million yuan each year, including the cost of getting the artists and their instruments to China, said Zheng.

"Sometimes we lose money on one performance, even with sponsorship. But I think excellent concerts will help to develop the Chinese public's artistic taste and expand the potential audience.

"These intangible benefits give us a strong incentive to continue our commitment," Zheng said.

Tickets cost 200 yuan to 2,800 yuan. Every year, more than 90 percent of the tickets are sold, according to Zheng.

However, this high-end event is not BJAMC's only New Year's concert. It also holds concerts in other halls or theaters, but the number is fewer than four a year.

To lower the costs of the annual concert in the 6,000-seat hall in Beijing, the agency cooperates with other local theaters to conduct a touring performance.

"In 2007, we partnered with the Shenzhen Concert Hall and Shanghai Grand Theater to co-organize New Year's concerts in their halls with the world-famous orchestras that we invited to China," said Sun Lansuo, manager of the international division at BJAMC.

"As we paid for the musicians' transportation and air freight for their instruments, the more performances they give in China, the less average cost we have to bear for each show," he added.

However, not all New Year's Eve concerts in China feature internationally famous orchestras, and it's not unknown for some domestic artists agencies to exaggerate the reputation of foreign orchestras.

It is legal for overseas orchestras to perform in China as long as they have obtained the approval of the Ministry of Culture.

But some in the industry worry that audiences are being deceived when they buy tickets for performances by orchestras that might not be very well known at home.

For example, Vienna is like a "commercial brand", and many orchestras have that word in their name, Tang Ruofu told China Business News.

Tang is a co-founder of Classical Music Pre-Concert Observation, a social organization that seeks to fight fraud in the concert performance market in China.

Sun said that his agency had been contacted by some "ordinary" overseas orchestras seeking representation in China. He said that such requests had been refused.

"We will provide professional advice on choosing the foreign philharmonic orchestras with which we are going to cooperate," said Sun.

"We will usually develop a detailed project plan in deciding whether to represent an overseas orchestra," said Zhang Xiaoding, the vice-manager of the Shanghai Grand Theater.

Some second- and third-tier cities are also attaching more importance to their local New Year's Eve concerts these days, and local governments are supporting some distinctly excellent concerts", said Zheng Ying.

"The huge expansion of New Year's concerts will lead to intense competition in the market," Zhang said.