European-Chinese Festival Orchestra debuts in Berlin

The European-Chinese Festival Orchestra, consisting of outstanding overseas Chinese musicians, made its debut at Berlin Philharmonie here on Thursday.

The two-hour concert attracted nearly 1,000 Chinese and foreign audiences. They enjoyed a show of multiple styles, which included Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings", two tango compositions written by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla, a concerto for Marimba and strings as well as "The Silence of Mt. Minshan" composed by Xiaogang Ye, one of China's leading contemporary composers.

Founded at the end of 2015, the European-Chinese Festival Orchestra currently comprises 17 famous Chinese musicians who are working as concertmaster or section leader in renowned orchestras in Europe.

"There are now many excellent Chinese musicians working in Europe. I wondered why not establish an orchestra composed entirely of these Chinese musicians? "Wei Lu, first concertmaster of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) and initiator of the European-Chinese Festival Orchestra, told Xinhua.

"We hope that audiences from Europe and other parts of the world will come to know the outstanding attainments of Chinese musicians," he said.

Ye, who specially created "The Silence of Mt. Minshan" for Thursday's performance, said the establishment of the orchestra was a very meaningful thing.

"This is a good start. I hope that the orchestra will get more support and long-term development, and become a successful transmission platform of China's image in foreign countries," the composer said. Endit