Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra staged a concert under the baton of conductor Zhang Yi at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on April 23.

As part of the ongoing 8th China Orchestra Festival, the concert featured an original Chinese music piece, titled Qiantang River in the Warm Spring, by Chinese composer Zhou Xianglin, which consists of five chapters and portrays the local people's lifestyle and natural sceneries of Zhejiang province. The music piece was supported by Zhejiang Culture and Art Development Fund.

Dawn for the Millennium, the prelude, takes audience back to the ancient China, especially the history of Zhejiang province, and the second chapter, titled Song of the Kind People, and the third, titled Picturesque Landscape, are dedicated to the province's people and natural resources, said composer Zhou at the NCPA before the concert.

"The last two parts of the music piece, A Myriad Twinkling Lights and Struggle against Time, are fast-paced, depicting the contemporary life of people in Zhejiang. Local music elements, such as traditional Chinese operas and folk songs, are used in these two parts," Zhou said.

The concert also brought Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony, Op. 58 and, according to conductor Zhang, who is also the artistic director of Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra, the piece shows the level of the orchestra, whose history dates back to about 60 years ago.

Formerly known as the Zhejiang Song and Dance Theater Orchestra, Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra was renamed in 2009 and is committed to performing local music adapted into symphonic style while playing classical Western symphonic works.

p