Chinese orchestra to stage two concerts in New York City

To New Yorkers who are no strangers to all sorts of world-class music events, from broadway shows to Radio City rockettes, traditional Chinese music might sound less familiar, even exotic.

This week, the China National Traditional Orchestra is to stage two performances of traditional Chinese music in the city, providing a chance for the Western ears to enjoy a repertoire of classical oriental music.

"The two shows have different highlights," said Xi Qiang, chair of the orchestra.

The first concert -- "Splendor of Folk Music" -- selects seven orchestral works that are mostly based on ancient poems and prominently feature traditional Chinese instruments to showcase the diversity of the Chinese folk music, Xi said.

Meanwhile, the "Rediscover Chinese Music" program employs an innovative storytelling technique, with the help of the lighting and sets, to lead audience into the story behind the classical music, he said.

The ensemble will play the concert version of the program at Carnegie Hall on Sunday as the equipment required for the production's multimedia elements cannot be used in concert halls, he added.

On Wednesday, an event featuring a live "trailer" of the two programs at the Princeton University drew more than a hundred from the university and local communities.

At the event, musicians from the orchestra performed several popular pieces with traditional Chinese musical instruments, such as erhu (a two-stringed bowed musical instrument), pipa (a four-string lute), and xiao (Chinese wind instruments similar to clarinets and flutes).

"The four pieces are all very good. Such a good opportunity does not come along that often," said Keith Lane, a local resident.

He particularly mentioned the last piece played with yueqin (also called the moon guitar) accompanied with a narrative of an ancient poem. "That's what I picked up on coz I can relate it to a lot of modern musics and the blues that I heard many years ago."

"Music is music. it can take down language barriers. Through music, you can get what the musicians are trying to express," he said, suggesting promoting the event on a larger scale so that "everybody can hear and understand the music."

The two programs will be performed at Lincoln Center on Friday and Carnegie Hall on Sunday, respectively.

"I will definitely consider going to the events," Lane said. Enditem