The concert will include the world premiere of the Fantastic Symphonic Suite Homage to Liu Tianhua, commissioned by the Beijing Music Festival and the Beijing Chinese Orchestra, and composed by Zou Ye, based on Liu's instrumental music.

According to Yu Long, music educator and composer Xiao Youmei (1884-1940), who was credited with paving the way for original Chinese symphonic music, cofounded the Peking University Music Training Institute in 1922. This gave birth to Peking University String Orchestra, which was the first professional orchestra composed of Chinese musicians. The orchestra performed music by Western composers, such as Beethoven and Schubert, as well as original music works by Chinese composers, such as Xiao.