Suzhou Chinese Orchestra from Suzhou New District in Jiangsu province staged a rousing Chinese Music, Suzhou Style concert in Hiroshima, Japan, on Sept 13, marking the beginning of its 2019-2020 Music Season, organizers said.
Under the guidance of Chinese conductor Pang Kapang, the concert began with a passionate Gallop and the ensemble then performed the Kunqu opera Peony Pavilion, which evoked the audience the sights of Southern China with running waters under small bridges.
In addition, Tchaikovsky's waltz and the orchestra's Lyric Caprice and Ganjiang Moye Fantasia were also staged at the concert, which was ended with the widely known Japanese piece the World's Only Flower.
The highlight of the concert was the erhu solo Moon Over a Fountain by renowned erhu player Zhu Changyao and listeners were all mesmerized by the sorrowful and vigorous melody from the traditional two-stringed bowed Chinese instrument.
At the invitation of Kanazawa, a sister city of Suzhou in Japan and the Japan Music Fanciers Association, Suzhou Chinese Orchestra is visiting the country from Sept 12 to 21.
For the remainder of the tour, the orchestra is scheduled to perform in Nagoya, Kanazawa, Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
Co-founded by the Suzhou municipal government and Suzhou New District in 2017, the Suzhou Chinese Orchestra aims to promote traditional Chinese culture by integrating Chinese folk music into orchestral performances, as well as reinterpreting and expressing traditional Chinese music through the symphonic format.
The orchestra has staged performances in 14 cities in more than 10 other countries around the world, including the United States, Russia and Germany, and received rave reviews from critics.
Suzhou Chinese Orchestra gives a rousing Chinese Music, Suzhou Style concert in Hiroshima, Japan, on Sept 13. [Photo/snd.gov.cn]
