Guangdong National Orchestra staged a traditional Cantonese concert called “Canton Rhythms for Silk Road” in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday evening.
The concert, consisting of renowned compositions such as Entertainment Flourishing, Rain Hitting Banana Trees, Drought Thunder, Step by Step High, as well as the familiar Malaysian traditional folk music Rasa Sayang with Chinese traditional musical instruments, received sustained applause from the audience.
Guangdong National Orchestra, with a glorious history of seven decades, is among China’s strongest independent music performance groups. And the concert, combining both traditional and modern elements, presented to the audience the exploration and innovation of contemporary Chinese chamber music.
Chen Jianwen, head of Guangdong provincial publicity department, Dato Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, president of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association, Yang Shu, a senior official of the Guangdong provincial department of culture and tourism, Wang Ruifang, president of Xiamen University’s Malaysia campus, Zhang Zhen, counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia, Deng Hong, deputy director-general of the information office of Guangdong provincial government, Lin Lan, chairperson of the Guangdong Artists Association and director of the Guangdong Art Academy, and Hou Xiaojun, vice-president of Nanfang Media Group and CEO of Southcn.com, were among the over 500 audience who attended the concert, which is characteristic of Chinese spirit and typical of the charm of Lingnan culture.
The concert is part of programs held in Kuala Lumpur, the last leg of the “2023 Charming China – Cultural Exhibition from Guangdong” hosted by the information office of the Guangdong provincial government and the Guangdong provincial department of culture and tourism.
Other programs include the exhibition of Guangdong’s intangible cultural heritage items, such as Guangdong paper-cutting, Foshan woodblock prints, Dawu clay sculpture, Fengxi handmade red clay teapot, Chaozhou tea art, and Shaoguan Yao ethnic embroidery, which gained great popularity in Bologna, Italy and Cairo, Egypt during the preceding stops. The exhibition made the unique charm of Lingnan culture easily available to local people.
Prior to this, the “2023 Charming China – Cultural Exhibition from Guangdong” was held in Italy and Egypt in mid-to-late November, aiming to promote cultural exchange and mutual learning between China and European, African, and Asian countries, and to showcase the heritage of Chinese culture and the charm of Lingnan culture to the world.
