Chinese horn ensemble shares universal language of music

As the final notes faded through the concert hall in Krakow, Poland, the audience rose in sustained applause, celebrating a performance that brought together European classics and Chinese melodies through the rich sound of the horn.

For the China Horn Ensemble, the concert marked more than the end of a performance. On July 7, it debuted at the opening concert of the 58th International Horn Symposium, the world's leading gathering of horn performers and educators.

Performing before an audience of leading figures in the international horn community, the ensemble moved seamlessly between works by Johann Strauss II, Giacomo Puccini and Pietro Mascagni and Chinese classics including the Butterfly Lovers Fantasy and Dance of the Yao Ethnic Group.

One of the evening's highlights was a jazz-inspired rendition of the Chinese folk song Jasmine Flower. As its familiar pentatonic melody unfolded over lively rhythms, audience members standing in the aisles began to smile and sway with the music.

Among the audience sat one of the horn world's most respected figures, Randall Faust, whose opinion carries considerable weight in the international horn community.