The MISA festival kicked off at the Shanghai Symphony Hall on Saturday to the sounds of birds chirping and the rumble of percussion instruments.

Conducted by maestro Yu Long, artistic director of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO), the opening concert featured a lighthearted program including Italian composer Ottorino Respighi’s The Pine of Rome, during which sceneries of the forest was projected on the screens and sounds of birds singing were played.

On Sunday night, the festival presented its first outdoor concert at the Urban Music Lawn, where 12 musicians from Shanghai Chinese Orchestra presented a concert featuring traditional Chinese instruments.

The annual festival has been hosted by the SSO every year since 2010. “MISA aims to enrich people’s cultural life in the summer,” said Zhou Ping, director of SSO.

“Shanghai’s soft power is reflected in its colorful arts and culture scene, and we hope to add the beauty of music to people’s sweet impression for summer.”

This year, the festival will go on for two weeks and consist of 22 concert productions presented at the Shanghai Symphony Hall and the Urban Music Lawn. Fourteen of the concerts will be live-streamed on multiple web platforms.