KLASSIKOM=Innovations in classical music

An associate professor teaching composition at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Wang Ruiqi initiated and curated a contemporary music concert staged on the F1 race track in Shanghai during the Grand Prix on March 21, 2025. She explains why it’s important to write for F1, and how she comes up with ideas to make contemporary music more accessible. This is a Chinese/Mandarin programme with English...

Founder and impresario Wang Zhixing on presenting Beethoven for Youth Music Festival in China for the third consecutive year. He intends to make Beethoven’s music "accessible to the youth". This is a Mandarin/Chinese programme with no subtitles Interviewed in Shanghai at the launch event on February 28, 2025 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...

Borealis is an annual festival for experimental music in Bergen. Follow the footsteps of KLASSIKOM to get a taste of this year’s festival where live music has been presented at incredible landmarks across the entire city, in the sauna, on the sea, by the pool and under broad sunshine, a rare treat in one of Europe’s most rainy cities. The programme is in Mandarin with Chinese and English subtitles...

Two pianists based in Shanghai are to present the music of Beethoven and Chopin in a recital themed Pinnacle of Piano Music on March 22nd at the Shanghai Symphony Hall. To experience the music of Beethoven and Chopin at the zenith of their artistic vision is to embark on a journey that is both humbling and transformative—a journey that reaches deep into the human psyche, awakening emotions and ins...

German tenor Jonas Kaufmann has recovered fully from an illness that led to the cancellation of his first concert in Hong Kong last month. Last night at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, he offered six encore pieces with his mentor and pianist Helmut Deutsch. This is the final concert of his month long tour to Asia. It’s his second visit to Shanghai since eight years ago. This is a public episode. If yo...

Why Beethoven’s music has found its unique place in the musical pantheon? What’s magic about his music that has become since his time a global phenomenon like none other? Chinese pianist and educator Tang Zhe heads the music education department of the renowned Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Here he is interviewed by KLASSIKOM and talks about his study with Leonard Shure, who is an assistant to A...

Belgium based cellist Riana Anthony chose to perform excerpts from the Butterfly Lovers violin concerto adapted for cello and piano with Jonathan Fournel, her collaborative piano, after the duo performed in Shanghai in a recital. Her impression on the classic concerto composed by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang in the late 1950s was astounding. She recalled how the duo’s first exposure to the tune ended...

In this second episode of a three-part interview taking place in Shanghai with Belgium based cellist Riana Anthony, she compares the pedagogy in higher music education from the U.S. and Europe as she has studied at both. She also introduces her alma mater in Waterloo, Belgium and recalls her nightmare and sweetspots travelling with her cello. In China she said she has had the best experience trave...

Jazz upstart and soul diva Ekep Nkwelle made an impact as her quartet launched its China debut on Feb 19th at Jazz at Lincoln Centre Shanghai. She sang the second programme of ballads and blues on Feb 22nd. In the show she paid homage to jazz and blues greats Coltrane, Duke (her favourite composer), and nonetheless Peggy Lee. She teased the audience by dedicating “I Love Being Here With You” to Sh...

Cellist Riana Anthony is based in Belgium. She has a Chinese mother and an American father. She was raised in Japan and studied in both the U.S. and Europe before making her debut in Hawaii. How do the Chinese, American, Hawaiian, Japanese and European backgrounds have an impact on her musical language? How does she identify herself? This is the first episode of the three-part backstage interview...

Jazz luminary and soul diva Ekep Nkwelle made an impact in Shanghai as her quartet launched its China debut on Feb 19th at Jazz at Lincoln Centre Shanghai. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit klassikom.substack.com