The Festival returns to China

On 3 and 4 March, the Intendant of the Rossini Opera Festival, Ernesto Palacio, together with Luca Canonici, vocal coach at the Accademia Rossiniana ‘Alberto Zedda’, will hold two masterclasses on Belcanto and Rossini’s opera at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The masterclass series, now in its third year, is part of a cooperation programme that began in mid-December 2023, when the Festival and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music signed a Memorandum of Understanding to undertake a series of joint initiatives for the cultural and artistic promotion of bel canto and Rossini’s opera in China. Also in 2023, from 26 May to 26 August, Shanghai’s Middle Longhua Road Metro Station hosted an exhibition dedicated to the Rossini Opera Festival. The event, organised by the Festival together with the Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai, the Italian Cultural Institute in Shanghai, the Shanghai Friendship Association and Shanghai Metro, was entitled Rossini Opera Festival in China: The Magic and Mystery of Gioachino Rossini.

The Shanghai Conservatory of Music is China’s first music education institution. Founded by Cai Yuanpei and Xiao Youmei in 1927, it is now under the dual leadership of the Ministry of Culture and the Shanghai Municipal Government. The Conservatory has established and maintains ongoing collaborative relationships with some of the world’s finest conservatories and music institutions.

Published in : 23 February 2026