"Melody from Beijing" Athens concert connects China to Greece

The two renowned Chinese virtuosos of traditional Chinese musical instruments, Zhou Wei and Yang Jing, accompanied by the City of Athens Symphony Orchestra, gave a magnificent performance in the Greek capital on Thursday evening, connecting China to Greece through music.
 
The coexistence of the Chinese and Greek artists for first time in a concert entitled "Melody from Beijing" was received with a warm applause by an enthusiastic audience at the fully-packed Athens Concert Hall.
 
Zhou Wei accompanied by Chinese pianist Qu Dawei introduced Greeks to the magic of "Erhu" performing works such as the "Grapes are Ripe", while Yang Jing was praised for her performance of "Pipa" solos such as the "Swan".
 
The two artists also performed a lot of other famous music pieces, including "Moonlight on the Pond" and "Nostalgic Dreams of Beijing".
 
The event organized by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development in cooperation with the City of Athens and the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Greece, included traditional and modern Chinese music as well as transcriptions of famous works of Western music, linking the East with the West.
 
The artists from China and Greece created a bridge which for two hours connected Athens to Beijing, showing to the Greek audience aspects of the classic and modern China.
 
Thursday's concert was the first event in a series of cultural events under planning aimed to bring the two peoples closer, organizers said.
 
Addressing the event, Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli expressed his satisfaction for the strengthening of bilateral ties in recent years, including cultural exchanges.
 
"I believe that music can bring us closer and foster the mutual understanding among our two peoples," he stressed.
 
On behalf of the City of Athens, Fotis Provatas, Chairman of the Athens City Council, said in his opening remark: "We thank the Chinese friends who came from far away to bring us a taste of their civilization."
 
Greek spectators left the concert hall excited.
 
"The performance has left me with the best impressions, because of the presentation of China's culture through the traditional musical instruments combined with Western instruments such as the piano that we are familiar with .. Art in general can unite peoples. Tonight we proved this through the combination of these elements," Georgia Papargiadis, a musician and teacher told Xinhua.
 
"It was a wonderful evening. The two artists are famous from what we have learnt and it was a great honor having them here with us from China. It was a great pleasure watching them tonight," Amalia Matiatou, Vice President of the Greece-China Association, said.