Traditional tunes take center stage at SCO arts festival

Four folk orchestras from China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Russia took part in the concert: the Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra from the China Conservatory of Music; Kyrgyzstan's Akak Ensemble; the Uzbekistan National Music Group, Sato; and the Lyudmila Zykina State Academic Ensemble of Russian Folk Music.

The orchestras performed in the opening piece and finale of the concert together, a festive Chinese piece named Xiyangyang (Jubilant), and the well-known Russian folk song, Kalinka.

In other passages, the orchestras each performed their distinctive regional music masterpieces. The Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra presented three different Chinese musical styles, including a puppet play from Shaanxi province, the poetic lute piece A Moonlit Night on the Spring River, and a popular overture from Peking Opera.