"Since its inception, the Beijing Music Festival has played an important part of connecting with the world and providing a platform for cultural exchange. Many plans and curations are deeply connected to the theme of linking to the world," says Zou Shuang, artistic director of the Beijing Music Festival, who will deliver an online video speech during the forum.

It all started with Yu, then a 33-year-old young and ambitious conductor, who arrived in Beijing from Hamburg, Germany, in 1997.

Born in 1964 into a musical family in Shanghai, Yu received his early musical education from his grandfather Ding Shande, a veteran Chinese composer, and went on to study at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Hochschule der Kunste Berlin.

"At that time, I wanted to do something, which was pioneering and no one ever did before. I shared my vision with some of my friends and one idea came to me: Is it possible to launch a professional and international music festival in Beijing?" recalls Yu.