A celebration of traditional music

"That article inspired me to pursue my dream as a conductor and also introduced me to conductor Xu Xin," recalls Liu, who wrote a letter to Xu, expressing his wish to be a conductor. To his surprise, Xu replied and invited him to Beijing to meet him at the Central Conservatory of Music, where Xu worked. In 1997, Liu was enrolled to study conducting at the school and joined the China National Traditional Orchestra in 2002.

"I also like Western music, and to explore the musical language and compositional techniques the composers used. But traditional Chinese music offers a bigger world to me. As a conductor, I could have much more, like using 'mother tongue'," says Liu.

From April 8 to 28, the festival will also have 10 concerts featuring Chinese traditional music orchestras, including the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, the Beijing Chinese Orchestra, the Traditional Chamber Orchestra of the Central Conservatory of Music Concert and the National Traditional Orchestra Academia China. Conductors including Hong Yongyan and Chen Bing will be featured.

During the festival's closing ceremony, which will be held on April 28, the audience will enjoy a concert Night of Pipa. The China National Traditional Orchestra will perform with famous pipa soloists, including Wu Yuxia, Zhao Cong, and Yang Jing, under the baton of conductor Liu.