Beijing, already one of the world's most vibrant musical capitals, will next week host a new German music festival.
On stage will be indie-rock bands, singer-songwriters, classic blues, heavy metal, country and pop singers.
The festival will be called Goethe Music Nights and its art director, Udo Hoffmann, says he hopes to draw crowds with his country's most original musicians.
"The eight bands represent the modern German music scene," he says. "Some have been to China, some have not, but all are excited about going to Beijing. They have strong live performing ability which will give the audiences a carnival lasting several nights."
The festival, organized by Goethe Institute Peking, will start on Sunday at Starlive, opening with Doro Pesch, one of the leading female heavy metal performers for the past two decades, playing material from her newest album, "Fear No Evil." The former Warlock frontwoman, who last December celebrated 25 years of performing in Germany, has never slowed down since leaving the group in 1986. Although she has experimented with various sounds, the core of her music has always been heavy metal. Joining Doro on Sunday are two avant-garde bands from Germany, Torpedo Boyz and Fotos.
Electro-funk band Torpedo Boyz is a nightclub favorite around the world. With such songs as "Are You Talking to Me?" and "Smiles All Around," this five-piece band amounts to much more than mere DJ-ing or club music producing. They have managed to make their funky tone work live on stage, too. Leading new German pop group Fotos, meanwhile, has reached outside of the German-speaking world playing in Paris and the US since forming in 2005.
The long-standing Deine Lakaien, formed by Alexander Veljanov and Ernst Horn in 1985, is an avant-garde electronic and atmospheric darkwave ensemble in Germany. They had their Beijing debut last year and this time will close the festival at Yugong Yishan on June 18.
Other German artists include rock band Panik, punk rockers Vorzeigekinder, Suidakra and folk singer Kira.
The summer nights music festival is part of Germany and China - Moving Ahead Together, a series of events that started in 2007 and will tour six Chinese provinces by 2010. Similar festivals have been successful in cities including Shenyang, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Chongqing, where they are highlights of the cultural calendar.
"There were several motivations for the festival," says Hoffmann. "The internal motivation was when I realized that the music scene in both China and German is flourishing and we need to let each other know what is going on in the two countries."
Having lived in China for nearly 20 years, Hoffmann has always been a dedicated cultural messenger between the two countries. He has long ago proven himself to be a very successful event organizer, starting with the Beijing Jazz Festival in 1993.
(China Daily June 9, 2009)
