At the night of October 14, Guangdong National Music Orchestra, the first local music group to appear at the One Hundred Concerts of Chinese Folk Music activity celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, held a high-level symphony concert of unique features of southern Guangdong at the National Grand Theatre in Beijing. The Elegance and Charms of Guangdong, as the concert was named, was warmly responded. Yesterday morning, over 20 experts and scholars from traditional Chinese music groups and colleges in Beijing attended a seminar on the concert of Elegance and Charms of Guangdong.

The classical music of Guangdong played at the night, Sai Long Dou Jin, Ying Xian Ke, and Ping Hu Qiu Yue, and the music Band Interlink, adopted from Wujiatou music Interlink, showed the rich features of southern Guangdong music. Ma Xiaonan, music director of China Record Corporation, commented that “The playlist of Elegance and Charms of Guangdong is very inviting, as it comprises the three music varieties of Guangdong, Chaozhou and Kejia. It fully manifests the regional feature of Guangdong. The performers are also wonderful in performance skills.”

Yang Chunlin, first-grade conductor of China Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, was very impressed with the “Guangdong taste” of the concert. Yang said that “A lot of local music has lost regional features when they are united with western music. But the concert of Guangdong National Music Orchestra has incarnated rich Guangdong features. We know it is Guangdong music and Chinese music, as soon as we hear it.” Hu Binxu, a famous conductor, points out that national music must attain “local features”, and it should not turn into a stereotype “national food coupon”. Zhang Dianying, vice-president of China Nationalities Orchestra Society, praised the grand finale Mu Guiying Takes Command, a symphony of Chinese folk music. He said that “It is apparent from the fact that they have successfully performed the Mu Guiying Takes Command that Guangdong National Music Orchestra has fully been able to play and command music works of epic nature.”

Yu Qiwei, a famous musician, paid a special visit from Hong Kong to present performances. In an interview with the Yangcheng Evening News, he said with complex emotions that “Chinese folk music, including Guangdong music, has been imbedded into the contemporary historical evolution process. On the one hand, we open our arms to embrace with all modern civilizations. On the other hand, we keep looking back and yearning for the past and, in this process, maintain traditional beauty.”

Jing Lihu, deputy director of Guangdong Provincial Culture Department who came to Beijing in support of the orchestra, said that the department had listed Guangdong National Music Orchestra among the institutions with personnel wages and welfare fully funded by the government. In this way, we will keep the orchestra of Chinese folk music warm and well-fed to promote the traditional Chinese music.

It is reported that Elegance and Charms of Guangdong will “return to the parents’ home” on November 7, to entertain the mass of Chinese folk music lovers with low-priced tickets at the Guangzhou Xinghai Music Hall.

Editor: Wen Yi