On the eve of the opening of the 7th Beijing International Music Festival, famous cellist Yo-yo Ma was chosen as Honorary Artist of the Year by a public appraisal organized by the Beijing International Music Festival Association.

The candidates for the title were twenty famous musicians from both home and abroad participating in the festival.

Thousands of Chinese music fans joined in the vote, and the results seemed to be in line with the popularity of the concerts:  Tickets for Yo-yo Ma's concerts were sold out by early September, and he finally won with just over 3,200 votes, 16% of the total.

Clarinetist Sabina Meyer came second, while conductor Christoph Eisenbach, violinist Maxim Vengerov, cellist Wang Jian and composer Tan Dun also got many votes.

Copyright of crienglish.com. All rights reserved. Reproduction of text for non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that both the source and author are acknowledged and a notifying email is sent to us.