Musicians play Chinese folk music at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Art Festival in Beijing, capital of China, May 30, 2018. The festival opened here on Wednesday and will last until Friday. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)
In preparation for the 18th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a traditional music concert was held on Wednesday as part of the SCO Member States Arts Festival.
The concert was organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and presented by the China Arts and Entertainment Group in front of a live audience of around 1,000 people, which included diplomats from member states, observer states, dialogue partners as well as representatives from the SCO.
Luo Shugang, the minister for Culture and Tourism, said at the concert that the ministry aims to "enhance the communication and cooperation in the cultural and tourism fields, as well as promote mutual understanding and friendship with the member states, observer states, and dialogue partners of the organization."
Four folk orchestras from China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Russia took part in the concert: the Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra from the China Conservatory of Music; Kyrgyzstan's Akak Ensemble; the Uzbekistan National Music Group, Sato; and the Lyudmila Zykina State Academic Ensemble of Russian Folk Music.
The orchestras performed in the opening piece and finale of the concert together, a festive Chinese piece named Xiyangyang (Jubilant), and the well-known Russian folk song, Kalinka.
In other passages, the orchestras each performed their distinctive regional music masterpieces. The Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra presented three different Chinese musical styles, including a puppet play from Shaanxi province, the poetic lute piece A Moonlit Night on the Spring River, and a popular overture from Peking Opera.
Other performances showcased the vigorous and fast-tempo komuz music from Kyrgyzstan, a medley of Uzbekistan folk songs, and a piece adapted from the classical Russian folk song Moonlight composed by the renowned musician, Vasily Andreyev.
Dmitry Dmitrienko, the artistic director and conductor of the Russian ensemble, was responsible for conducting Kalinka at the concert, "Performed by artists from four countries, the piece symbolizes the cooperation between them."
The idea for the SCO Member States Arts Festival originated during multilateral cultural exchanges at the 2004 summit in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Member states passed the resolution to hold the annual arts festival the following year at the SCO summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
This year's arts festival ran from May 29 to June 1 in Beijing, with a range of stage performances, exhibitions and master classes, including a folk dance performance and a photography exhibition of cultural heritage sites.
Li Jinsheng, general manager of the China Arts and Entertainment Group, says, "through a variety of activities, the arts festival intends to present the diversified civilizations of the SCO member states, in order to promote exchange and mutual learning between countries, and to strengthen people-to-people bonds."
