'Friendship' the theme of concert in Windy City

Members of one of the eight participating bands off stage accompany orchestra ensembles on stage during a concert in Chicago on Sunday. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Chinese music filled the air in Chicago on Sunday, captivating the city and participants from neighboring states.

The historic concert featuring dance and choir mixed with Western music and classical opera filled the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park with excitement and applause.

"Music is a universal language," said Jan Zheng, president of the Dongfang Chinese Performing Arts Dance Group, who also worked on organizing the free concert for 10,000 spectators.

"We have more than 30 performing troupes from Minnesota, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois today," said Zheng, along with performers from China and Canada.

The concert, titled Friendship Lasts Forever, involved 1,000 participants on and off stage.

"I'm very excited to be here today," said Hong Lei, Chinese consul general in Chicago. "This concert is a showcase of the artistic level of Chinese and American performers and the importance of friendship between the two countries."

Hong said that "the US-China relationship now is the most important bilateral relationship in the world", and "the concert demonstrates a strong foundation in America's Midwest to further such relationship".

Mark Heckler, president of Valparaiso University (VU) in Indiana, praised the concert as a celebration of culture and friendship with China.

"It is 'friendship lasts forever', as the concert is called," he said.

The Confucius Institute at Valparaiso (CIVU) played a key role in making the concert a reality, Heckler said. He also expressed appreciation for the university's 25-year partnership with China.

The show opened with the powerful Dance of the Golden Snake, the popular Raga Jasmine, and In a Place Far, Far Away, performed by the Meifeng Traditional Chinese Orchestra of CIVU with the Silk Cedar-American Ensemble.

The prelude was followed by the Massed Band, in which the Windiana Concert Band, VU Chamber Concert Band and Meifeng Chinese Music Ensemble were joined by 10 high school bands from different Midwestern states off stage.

Jeffrey Doebler, a conductor who dressed in a traditional black Chinese gown with two embroidered golden dragons, conducted the bands on and off stage by turning to face the bands alternately.

The concert's sound echoed beyond the Pritzker Pavilion to the entire park and was met with enthusiastic applause from a diverse audience.