On October 10, 2020, the 23rd Beijing Music Festival co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the People's Government of Beijing Municipality opened under the theme “Music Must Go On” at Poly Theater. Zhang Xu, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism, Wang Hong, Vice Mayor of Beijing, Wang Jiequn, Deputy Director-General of the Publicity Department of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Chen Dong, Director-General of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism attended the opening ceremony and watched performances. Vice Mayor Wang Hong delivered remarks and Vice Minister Zhang Xu declared the opening of the 23rd Beijing Music Festival.

Founded in 1998 and held annually in October, Beijing Music Festival has been successfully hosted 22 times. Against the backdrop of regular epidemic prevention and control, this year's festival is presented both online and offline by fully leveraging the internet and new media. It offers 20 offline performances and 24 hours of non-stop online audio and video programs daily from October 10 to October 20. All performances are available to the public through its official app and a number of media outlets in China. 

The festival opened with “Dedicated to 2020” on October 10, a concert featuring chorus and orchestra. The show, which depicts joint efforts of Beijing and Hubei in battling COVID-19, was conducted by composer Zou Ye and performed by China Philharmonic Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra, Beijing Musicians’ Association Chorus and a chorus from the Performing Arts Department of Wuhan Conservatory of Music. Soprano Zhang Liping and baritone He Leiming, two world-famous singers hailing from Wuhan, sang together with other artists.