Xi'an orchestra launches online streaming concerts

Finding creative ways to engage with their audiences amid the COVID-19 outbreak, Xi'an Symphony Orchestra has launched a series of online streaming concerts, combining them with art pieces displayed at museums in Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

Titled When Museum Meets XSO, the online series kicked off with a one-hour-long concert at 8 pm on Saturday, staged at the Shaanxi History Museum.

Audiences saw cultural relics from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) showcased in one exhibition titled Treasures of the Great Tang Dynasty, while listening to musicians of the orchestra playing repertories, including String Quartet in D Major, No 2 Nocturne by Russian composer Alexander Borodin performed by a string quartet of the orchestra and Violin Sonata No 5 in F Major, Op 24 Spring by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven.

Over 3 million people watched the concert online through social media platforms, including Youku and Bilibili.

"It's much more interesting to see these cultural relics, which seem to come alive with the music," commented a fan on Chinese video site Bilibili. "It feels like a time-traveling experience, which is totally different from listening to a concert in the concert hall," wrote another fan.

According to Cao Jiwen, branding director of the Xi'an orchestra, the series of online streaming concerts is being held until May 25, with six of the concerts being performed at Shaanxi History Museum, the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, the Beilin (literally meaning "forests of steles") Museum, and Xi'an Museum. The last concert of the online series will be held on the ancient city wall of Xi'an.

"Last year, celebrating International Museum Day, which falls on May 18, we had a concert outside the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, which received warm feedback. This year, we expanded the idea of celebrating International Museum Day with more shows," says Cao. "The cultural relics and classical music pieces share something in common. They both travel through time and tell stories about history. We have conversations with cultural relics and classical music pieces when we experience them. It is all about imagination and inspiration."

A team from the orchestra shot videos of the museums and items on display, which were broadcast along with the musicians' performances during the concerts.

The orchestra gave an indoor performance on Saturday in front of the famous army of Terracotta Warriors at the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum.

He adds that because of the viral outbreak, the orchestra has canceled or postponed all of its shows at Xi'an Concert Hall, home of the Xi'an Symphony Orchestra, since late January. On March 27, musicians of the XSO held the first online concert on Bilibili.

"With the first online concert, we've seen many fans, who may have never listened to classical music, become interested in the genre. It's an efficient way to get classical music closer to more people," Cao says.

Founded in 2012, the Xi'an orchestra has recruited musicians from around the country, mostly those younger than 30. To bring classical music closer to the public, it has been looking at different types of performances.

One of the musicians of the orchestra who performed during the online concert on Saturday is clarinetist, Tian Tiantian, who played two pieces: Homage to J.S. Bach for solo clarinet by composer Bela Kovacs and Clarinet Sonata in E Flat Major, Op 120, No 2(1. Allegro amabile) by Johannes Brahms.

"These two pieces are classic works and are played a great deal by musicians from around the world. I decided to play these two pieces after I visited the Shaanxi History Museum and saw the cultural relics displayed there. The colors and emotions expressed with the pieces matched my imagination about the cultural relics, which inspired me," says Tian, 27, who was born and raised in Xi'an and started to learn to play clarinet at the age of 8. He graduated from Xi'an Conservatory of Music and furthered his music study in Paris, France before he joined the Xi'an orchestra in 2016.

According to Qin Zhifeng, the manager of the orchestra, all the repertories performed during the When Museum Meets XSO series are very well-known and timeless classical music pieces, which are just like the cultural relics in the museums.