Vienna concert showcases Chinese music

A symphonic concert, Hearing Contemporary China, featuring new works by Chinese composers from the Central Conservatory of Music, was held in Vienna on Sunday.

The Central Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Chen Lin, presented a wonderful auditory feast for over 1,000 attendees, at the stunning Vienna Concert Hall.

The concert premiered six recent orchestral works composed by faculty members from the conservatory including Jia Guoping's Viewing the Vast Sea, Ye Xiaogang's Five-Color Loquat, and Guo Wenjing's Spring Hope for guzheng and orchestra.

These six works allowed the Vienna audience to experience the expression and presentation of traditional Chinese culture through contemporary music, and the performances were met with prolonged applause.

The six composers conveyed the imagery of classical Chinese poetry, the emotional qualities of Chinese culture, and their reflections on the natural world through their contemporary music. Jia's Viewing the Vast Sea captured the majesty and grandeur of Cao Cao's famous poem; Ye's Five-Color Loquat used vibrant tones and shifting harmonies to evoke emotions tied to nature, symbolized by plants; Guo's Spring Hope intricately depicted the sentiments in Du Fu's poem of the same name.

Yu Feng, conservatory president, said that the theme of the concert was Hearing Contemporary China. The meaning of "hearing" goes beyond just "listening"; it also encompasses "understanding" and "knowing". Through music, which transcends language, the concert aimed to showcase the spirit and characteristic of contemporary China. Over recent years, the conservatory has brought new works to major global stages with this objective in mind.

In addition to this concert, the conservatory is building an international platform for cultural exchange through performances in Vienna, music score publications, and national composition competitions. These efforts aim to bring works that represent contemporary Chinese civilization to the global stage.