Every year, overseas musicians return to China to perform as the Global Chinese Orchestra with musicians based in the country

When the Global Chinese Orchestra performed at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Sept 27, audiences enjoyed a varied program. It included Scheherazade by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the fourth movement of Beethoven's Symphony No 9 in D Minor and Racing Horses, an original Chinese piece for the erhu (two-stringed fiddle) by Chinese composer Huang Haihuai.

For the musicians, who also performed at the Wei Lai Theater of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation on Sept 28 and Tsinghua University on Sept 29, the concerts were an opportunity to play together, with many coming home from overseas to perform.

Lyu Jia takes the baton of the Global Chinese Orchestra to perform at the annual Beijing concerts that gather overseas Chinese and returned musicians, who have studied and worked abroad for years. Photos Provided to China Daily

Half of them are overseas Chinese, members of Western symphony orchestras who live abroad. The other half have studied and worked abroad for years, but have returned to China and are members of Chinese orchestras.

"Every September, the overseas musicians return to their home country to perform as the Global Chinese Orchestra with the musicians based here. It's more like a reunion party," says conductor Lyu Jia, who is the president and artistic director of the orchestra. "We choose repertoires that combine original Chinese works with Western classical pieces."

Initiated by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, the orchestra has performed every year in China since its founding in September 2015.

Lyu says the annual concerts have each had different themes. For example, last year, which marked the 400th anniversary of the death of the English playwright William Shakespeare and Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) playwright Tang Xianzu, the orchestra played such works as Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet and Wan Fu, an aria from the original Chinese opera The Peony Pavilion, composed by Chinese musician Ye Xiaogang, with the libretto by Tang. This year, the theme was the Silk Road.

For Lyu, the idea of gathering overseas Chinese musicians in an orchestra was a longtime wish.

The 53-year-old conductor from Shanghai studied conducting at the University of Arts in Berlin in 1988 after graduating from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He won the Golden Prize and Favorite Conductor Award in the international Antonio Pedrotti conducting competition in Trento, Italy, in 1988.

In 1991, he was appointed chief conductor of the Italian opera house Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi, making him not only the opera house's first chief conductor from Asia, but also its youngest. Lyu worked and lived abroad for years, conducting 2,000 concerts and operas in Europe and the United States, before he returned to China and served as chief conductor of the National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra in 2011.

"During the past three decades, more Chinese musicians have studied at music schools abroad and played in Western orchestras. They've been recognized by Western audiences," says Lyu.

He also notes that classical music is a universal language that connects China with the rest of the world. He says he hopes the orchestra can tour overseas in addition to giving its annual performances in China.

Ma Junyi, the concertmaster and orchestra director of the Opera Australia Orchestra, has been playing with the Global Chinese Orchestra since its inception. This year, he is the principal violinist.

"It's like playing in an NBA All-Star Game. It's fun and we enjoy playing together," says Ma, who was born in Shanghai and moved to Australia in 1990.

Lin Wei, daughter of the late renowned violinist and music educator Lin Yaoji, joined the orchestra in 2016. The Guangzhou native started learning violin with her father at age 7. She plays with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, which she joined in 1988.

"The musicians have absorbed different cultures, and they turn their chemistry into expressive music. The opportunity of performing together is rare," says Lin. "We are proud."

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(China Daily European Weekly 10/20/2017 page20)