MCI concert: An introduction to Chinese music

On 30 November 2017, Music Confucius Institute at the Royal Danish Academy of Music held a concert of traditional Chinese instruments to introduce the audience to Chinese music.

The concert featured a number of traditional and modern pieces written for Chinese instruments and Western instruments. For instance, the contemporary piece Pianogongs written for piano and two Chinese opera gongs by Chinese composer Zhou Long was performed during the concert. The musicians also performed an arrangement of Libertango by Argentinian tango composer Ástor Piazzolla. This piece was originally written for a variety of Western instruments such as bandoneon, piano, guitar, and violin, but had been rearranged for pipa, erhu, accordion, and yangqin by Sun Xiaosong.

A variety of traditional Chinese instruments were included in the concert, such as

Yangqin 扬琴 (hammered dulcimer)

Pipa 琵琶 (four-stringed lute with a pear-shaped body)

Guzheng 古箏 (twenty-one-stringed zither)

Guqin 古琴 (seven-stringed zither)

Dizi 笛子 (transverse bamboo flute)

Zhongruan 中阮 (four-stringed lute with a round body)

Erhu 二胡 (two-stringed bowed instrument).

A couple of Western instruments, namely the piano and the accordion, were included as well.

The concert was held in the Studio Hall of the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. After the concert, the audience had a chance to speak with the musicians and try their instruments.