Back in 2016, Zou Shuang joined the Beijing Music Festival as Associate Program Director, initiating the New Wave Program that introduced new works to Chinese audiences, including “Winterreise,” “La Voix Humaine,” “Giovanni and Vixen” and “The Fugitive.”

Her work with the music festival led her to become the Artistic Director of the festival. She has only continued to push the boundaries for audiences.

This year alone audiences saw a world premiere, which she directed, traditional concert programs, a Chinese opera, the first music-theatre piece at the festival, and a series of contemporary operas, all major steps for the Beijing Music Festival.

Shuang spoke to OperaWire about her choices in repertoire, the challenges directing a festival, and the world premiere of “Orfeo.”

OperaWire: What was the process for choosing the repertoire for this year’s festival?

Zou Shuang: This year is a combination of opera, concerts and music theatre. It is the first time that the festival presents Music Theatre on the big stage and we have continued to explore a wider spectrum of the opera repertoire.

This year, we are presenting George Benjamin’s “Written on Skin” and also celebrating Leonard Bernstein’s centennial with a film version of “West Side Story.” The first two operas and music theatre pieces we did were “Farewell my Concubine” and “The Orphan of Zhao,” which were China-themed.

And then in order to promote the young spirit of up and comers, we commissioned “Orfeo.” It’s a newly commisioned work that came from Fay Kueen Wang and it was set up outside the main venue. It’s part of the new wave sidebar of the Beijing Music Festival.

OW: It is the first time that Music Theatre is part of the festival. Tell me about how you chose this work and do you think it belongs alongside opera?

ZS: I think our orientation was to expand our audience to a younger audience and a more popular audience. This means we want to give the message that a classical music festival is cool and welcoming. It is an entrance for people to come to the main stage of the festival expecting something different.

But we also wanted it to relate to high quality of music even if it is rock music. That is the spirit we want to promote to the young audience. And we also hope that we can gradually attract them to see other types of works from the festival.

OW: What is your take on how Opera and Music-theatre should interact?

ZS: New music should always be encouraged. That means anything from concert pieces, formal experiences all the way to popular music that says something about art today. That is what a festival should celebrate.

It’s different from a concert hall or a classical music venue. I think it’s to encourage younger audiences that there is no language barrier or cultural barrier. You can express through music.

Classical musicians are aware of popular music like rock and rock music can also change the world. I think all the serious musicians are not rejecting but embracing these types of music.

OW: Tell me about the diversity of the programming and is there a connection to the city, which is so diverse and expansive?

ZS: Absolutely! Beijing is such a large city and you have so many people in term of population, occupation, and background. If you go to pubs around you can find a South American celebrating Cuban music and then there are other types of cultures being celebrated. And in a way, there is a sense of celebration in this city all year round.

And what we are doing is trying to get people to come to this festival and show that there is something for them. This year is a stepping stone for a new direction and we are daring to bring something completely new. We may lose some of our fans because of what they are used to, but it is time to force them to embrace this change and get more new people to come. We have enough people in this city to show up.

OW:  You have programmed traditional music like the Beethoven Piano Concertos, Ravel, and Stravinsky. Was that to retain your traditional audience?

ZS: Of course. They are proud of being part of our festival. People love to show their knowledge of Classical music in Beijing. In this specific time, they compare the records they have heard and the latest names in the industry. It is fantastic to see this and they love to carry the identity of being experts during the festival. We should always bombard each other with different backgrounds and see what happens.

But I think in the next years we will be more repertoire-driven and be more systematic about what repertoire we choose for a famous orchestra from the west. We will have discussions with them prior to coming and present the music in a more educational way. Chinese audiences love the romantic period so the latter focus could be more contemporary things.

OW: You directed “Orfeo,” a world premiere. What was it like to bring this work to the festival and what were the challenges of both directing and being an artistic director?

ZS: The challenges were switching between both jobs. But it was fun. The cast never saw a switch because I was doing this work before I was promoted as the artistic director.

There will be a real challenge later on but luckily we got through this one well and it was also because I was very well prepared with the composer and cast. But it is the spirit that I feel proud of leading this production on my own and it is very challenging one.

Of course, this work is based on a work everyone knows and we have a young group of singers and principal singers that are well-known Chinese singers from the west. So it is a very creative and diverse team.

I look at directing like Robert Lepage once said. He said that directing is like being Columbus, who is only heroic after the opening. Before then you have a whole bunch of guys joining you on a boat without knowing where we are going. You don’t know anything and I established that right from the get-go. I am really proud of this work.

OW: Presenting new works is very important to this art form. But it is also challenging for audiences to embrace it. What is the most important of choosing the new work and do you make sure it is audience-friendly?

ZS: I think in terms of choosing the repertoire we always want to give background knowledge on why we choose it. For example, with “Orfeo,” we wanted to pay homage to Monteverdi and celebrate the Rennaissance spirit, which is when Monteverdi first tried opera. That is what we have to establish here at the Beijing Music Festival. It’s not always about the result. We have to learn about the process and I think it’s important to let young people know that you can fail.

The other thing is that from a production standpoint it has to be high quality but we also need new ways to get audiences in and appreciate new music. so it’s not always the new music they will be aware of. It never is and it’s not comfort music. So we have to find a way to involve the performers and the audience and that is why we chose an immersive opera. It’s an experience that will hook the audience.

OW: When you do a new work, what are biggest fears involved?

ZS: I never think any of my shows are perfect. I always know what can be done better and I also know the strengths behind every work I choose to do and the team I work with. It’s very thorough and I never tend to think commercially especially if it’s experimental.

I am also very aware of the audience and I appreciate the audience’s response. That is why I always get audiences in before we open so we can get real feedback. Theater is a live interaction and while people should be critical, they should be sympathetic because every day is different. So I don’t spend time thinking of my fears.

OW: How do you see the future of the festival?

ZS: World premieres will happen and I want to continue to bring music-theatre to the festival. I also want to do some performance art and crossover technology. I want top quality and I want to join forces with the frontier opera companies in the world to co-produce big stage operas that bring different visions. We are also trying to promote Chinese composers and there are quite a few abroad.