Other Concert Halls in Beijing

A myriad of secondary halls attached to various “all-purpose” entities exist which give a combination of private and public concerts, which range from classical to popular. These include the National Library, the Minorities Palace, and the 21st Century Theatre. A special case of this includes the enormous Great Hall of the People parliament building, nicknamed the Hall of Ten Thousand, which often welcomes special concerts and even has its own box office. None of these boasts high-quality production standards. The universities are similar to the entities mentioned immediately above, with two notable exceptions. The Peking University Hall, located in Haidian's university district in Beijing's northwest, hosts performances of dance, drama, and music of all kinds every year. They contain a large hall, as well as a recently-opened state-of-the art recital hall (seating capacity 200). The Central Conservatory, technically open to the public, but not usually advertising events, serves as a locale for festivals and a myriad of recitals and concerts, largely affairs ‘by and for musicians.’ Similar to Peking University, the campus contains a sizable performance hall and a new recital hall (seating capacity 300) which despite a beautiful design, was unfortunately not properly soundproofed against the metro line beneath. Independent or quasi-independent venues include all-purpose spaces in the arts districts (Currents - Art and Music Space, Hart Center for the Arts), as well as places associated with rock music (D-22, Star Live, Yugong Yishan). Teahouses and coffee shops sometimes host low-key classical or folk music performances. Embassies such as the American Embassy have occasionally hosted public-oriented chamber music performances. A CCTV channel is devoted to music and often broadcasts classical music concerts which are taped live, though this is not a 24-hour programming tendency. In recent years, this and other channels have hosted a number of musical competitions of all sorts, particularly bel canto, folk, and old-fashioned popular singing. Annual festivals hosting classical or concert-oriented music include Beijing Music Festival (October). The Central Conservatory of Music hosts a number of festivals a year: the Beijing Modern Music Festival (May), the more internally-focused Conservatory Festival (December), and Musicacoustica, an international festival dedicated to electro-acoustic music. In addition, the conservatory hosts an ever-growing number of events, conferences, and guest performances. The Ullens Center for Contemporary (UCCA) at the 798 Art District also hosts classical and contemporary works. The Beijing New Music Ensemble’s 2009 Season, for example, are performed at (UCCA).