(25 October, 2016) Umbria Jazz returns to China with great success and new projects for the future. The Chengdu Festival (17-23 October) saw a strong participation by the public, demonstrating that the Dragon Nation is capable of dedicating space for a genre of music that has been almost unknown until now, and in particular for the first great festival at the international level that was willing to bet on this genre., In China, the formula of the festival – which is now in preparation for the winter edition in Orvieto – has 62 events scheduled over seven days and in different locations. There are seven bands (five Italian and two American) performing for total of more than 50 musicians, that have also led to impromptu collaborations. This was achieved thanks to an intense team effort: the Italian Embassy in Beijing, the Italian Consulate in Chongqing, the Italian Cultural Institute of Beijing, the Italian Trade Commission in Shanghai and the Italy-China Foundation. Also important is the contribution of all the Chinese partners: The Chinese Ministry of Culture, the Chinese Embassy in Rome, the city of Chengdu, and Shanghai JZ Festival. The road remains open: Umbria Jazz is committed to hosting Chinese musicians in the Umbrian editions of the festival. Confirming the success of the event, the city of Chengdu has expressed the will to continue, starting in 2017, the collaboration with Umbria Jazz. Also during the festival, a delegation from the Umbria Region met with Chinese city and provincial authorities to start long-term cooperation agreements between Umbria and Chengdu in the economic, commercial, educational, cultural and tourism sectors. However, the Chengdu festival is not the only Chinese Festival that Umbria Jazz is participating in: their collaboration with the JZ Festival in Shanghai which hosted a concert by the Italian band “Funk Off”. In addition, they consolidated their presence in Beijing in close collaboration with the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute. (Red)
