The Philadelphia Orchestra on Friday presented a concert featuring both Western and Chinese music to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year.
About 2,000 people came to enjoy Chinese music with a touch of festive celebration at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.
The concert not only presented the Spring Festival Overture, which is well known to Chinese audiences, but also Voices of Spring by Johann Strauss II.
Chinese pipa master Zhang Hongyan captivated the audience with Heroic Little Sisters of the Grasslands, a Chinese orchestral piece inspired by a real story of two girls who saved their sheep in a snowstorm in 1960s.
The event also featured the North American debut of the duet Blossoms on a Moonlit River in Spring, which is composed by American Mason Bates and inspired by a classic Chinese Tang poem.
"I mean the whole field of Chinese music I think is very interesting. Especially the fact that it [Blossoms on a Moonlit River in Spring] was composed to a poem, I feel like most Western music is kind of a standalone thing, whereas with the poem aspect kind of adds another layer I think," said an audience member named Chase Fong.
"I especially love the piece with the soloist with the pipa. That was a new experience for me. I was actually crying during the whole performance because even without the words, you can just feel all the emotions," another audience member Zed said.
The concert marks the fifth consecutive year of the Philadelphia Orchestra's Chinese Lunar New Year celebration.
The Chinese Lunar New Year falls on Jan 29 this year, marking the start of the Year of the Snake.
Philadelphia Orchestra brings together Western, Chinese music to celebrate upcoming Chinese New Year
The China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum is expected to bring new vitality to the global development and human civilization, said Colombian President Gustavo Petro in Beijing.
Petro, who delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum on Wednesday, told China Media Group (CMG) in an interview, while giving a special mention of the importance of the forum as a platform to reshape multilateralism.
"This Forum, held here in China, comes at a pivotal moment in history. And that's precisely what makes it so significant. It is taking place at a time when multilateralism is in urgent need of reshaping. There are some powers who believe they can rule the world through intimidation and shows of force. But with China and Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries standing together, we must make them understand: history is full of hard lessons. Those who once flexed their military might did not prevail. They may have enjoyed momentary success in the past, but this time, history will not repeat itself," he said.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-CELAC Forum's operation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping stated in his speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum that under the careful cultivation of both sides over the past 10 years, the China-CELAC Forum has grown from a tender sapling into a towering tree.
Petro hailed the relations between China and LAC countries over the past decade, saying that the cooperation is expected to energize the global development and human civilization.
"Yes, exactly, a tree. A strong and thriving tree, with deep and well-developed roots firmly anchored in the earth. There's no doubt that over the past ten years, trade in physical goods between China and LAC countries has grown substantially. China is involved in building the Bogota metro project. China is also constructing a port in Peru, and many other large-scale infrastructure projects are being advanced through Chinese investment and engineering expertise. When we link the cultural and civilizational threads of China and LAC countries, it's as if we are nurturing a living tree, one that grows tall toward the sky and promises to bring new vitality to the human civilization," he said.
China-CELAC Forum brings new vitality to global development: Colombian president
