Concert in Giga Shanghai: Elon Musk’s City and his Tesla
Seven years ago, when I came to master China, work on something grand and new was already underway in Shanghai. In this city, on the coast of the East China Sea, a contract was being signed for the pledge of a future megaproject that would become the backbone of the region. The Shanghai city government approved the construction of the plant, which would later be known as Gigafactory 3 Tesla. In July 2018, a long-term lease for about 86 hectares (210 acres) of land was signed, and thus Giga Shanghai was born — a factory in Shanghai, China, operated by Tesla, Inc. This story intertwined with the image of Elon Musk and his ambitions to expand Tesla’s presence beyond the United States.
Thus arose a platform for communication between two worlds — technological innovations and cultural exchange — which later found expression within the 24th Shanghai International Arts Festival.
The Zhangjiajie Philharmonic Orchestra performed at the concert in the amphitheatre in this city, as part of a festival that gathers the world’s leading cultural collectives. The festival’s main concept was to create an international artistic “gravitational field,” where art becomes a bridge between peoples and eras. The program of the festival featured leading institutions and renowned groups: the Shanghai Opera, the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev, the Orchestra of St. Chiacilia from Italy conducted by Daniel Harding, among others. Their participation aimed not only to showcase high-level performance but also to introduce new currents in musical art.
Holding the concert as part of a large cultural project, the organizers sought to jointly create an international cultural “gravitational field” — a space where art draws people into a shared experience and inspires new ideas. The festival adhered to the motto: “The Great Festival of Art, a Festival for the People,” aiming to unite cultural traditions of different peoples and to foster dialogue among them. The project planned global initiatives: the International Dialogue “100 Arts,” the International Theatre Congress “Etitum Mir,” and eight main blocks covering themes from an artificial sky for benefactors to artificial art in the city and an artificial future to support youth.
On stage, the concert featured works rooted in the classical repertoire but with a distinctive timeliness and spatial interpretation. The program included the first movements of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, as well as compositions by contemporary Chinese composers. The program also included pieces from popular film music and pop performances, performed by the musicians of the symphony orchestra to convey the festival’s atmosphere and concepts. This blend of classical and contemporary created a special resonance: audiences felt a connection between historical eras and the new currents brought by the modern technological age.
The spectators were thrilled. They felt how a grand urban project and a cultural event interweave, creating a unique sense of participation in something larger than just a concert. Giga Shanghai proved to be not only a venue for a musical performance but also a symbol of a new format of collaboration between industrial progress and art — the dual engine of the city of the future.