Fourteen groups from home and abroad will hold live concerts and shows across Shanghai as part of the 2011 World Music Shanghai festival, which runs from May 21 to 25.

Although in its fourth year, this is the first time the festival will feature two days of outdoor concerts, with seven bands performing on the open stage at Zhongshan Park, from 2 pm to 10 pm, on May 21 and 22.

"The outdoor concert returns to Zhongshan Park for the first time since the 1940s," says Lin Jian, the festival's artistic director.

Zhongshan Park, also known as Jessfield Park, is a British-style park built in the 1910s and has an outdoor stage for concerts.

"They once used to hold symphony concerts there, but this tradition disappeared," Lin says. "We hope to bring it back. I'm sure the two days of music will turn the park into a giant party."

The theme of this year's World Music Shanghai is "heritage". Not only will world music drawn from diverse cultures and styles be presented, the festival will also discuss folk music in a contemporary context, and work out how to make it more accessible to urban audiences.

A highlight of the international line-up is Gotan Project, made up of three French electronic musicians and three authentic Tango musicians from Argentina. Gotan Project broke into the music scene in 1999 with their innovative mix of electro-tango. The trio of elegant, dark-suited showmen went on to score huge international success and have now carved out a reputation as masters of fusion.

Gong Linna, who shot to national prominence with her song Tan Te - which has no recognizable lyrics and a strange melody - will hold her debut concert at the festival. Winner of the Chinese National Singing Competition in 2000, Gong has performed as a soloist with all major Chinese orchestras.

"Tan Te brought me many opportunities to sing on stage," Gong says. She has spent the past 10 years exploring folk music in various parts of China.

"It's my dream to find the root of Chinese music and present its beauty to the world music scene," she says.

A frequent participant of festivals in Europe, Gong is enthusiastic about the upcoming show in Shanghai. "I'll ask the audience to join me in singing and teach them to release themselves in music, and enjoy it with their hearts."

Of the 11 international groups that will play at the festival, the Magic Couple from Mali, a musical duo comprising Amadou Bagayoko (guitar and vocals) and Mariam Doumbia (vocals), played at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in honor of Barack Obama, and at FIFA's 2010 World Cup kick-off.

The festival will also feature a special celebration of Khoomei, a traditional Mongolian style of singing. Four Khoomei groups will be invited to present this unique art form. While Egschiglen from Mongolia will present Khoomei in its purest form, Christian Zehnder from Switzerland will combine Khoomei with jazz music, and Hanggai from Beijing will fuse it with rock. There is also the Khoomei legend, Huun Huur Tu from Tuva, says Lin, the artistic director.

World Music Shanghai was founded on the eve of the World Expo 2010 and aims to carry forward the legacy of World Expo, says Yan Liming, director of Shanghai International Culture Communications Association, and organizer of the festival.

It has introduced a number of foreign musicians to Shanghai audiences, and this year, some of them are coming back, such as the National Drummers of Burundi and Ensemble Shanbehzadeh.

A whole-day pass to the festival on May 21 and 22 costs 280 yuan, and a two-day pass, 400 yuan. To book tickets, go to www.worldmusicshanghai.com.

China Daily