Chongqing - A large-scale symphonic concert From the Danube to the Yangtze River brought by the Chongqing Festival Orchestra will be staged in Chongqing Grand Theatre on May 23.

This concert will be the first performance of the Chongqing Festival Orchestra. It is guided by the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development and organized by the Chongqing Performance Arts Group, aiming to bring the public closer to elegant art.

Festival Orchestra is a kind of orchestra established for a specific music festival. It is a popular form of orchestra organization and operation in recent years. Chongqing Festival Orchestra was initiated and established by Chongqing Performing Arts Group. In addition to the orchestra's conductor, the average age of the orchestra members is only 25 years old, which is a vigorous team. The orchestra has also invited world-famous conductor and composer Peter Ritzen as its music director and young Chinese violinist He Shucong as its principal.

Peter Ritzen, who hails from Vienna on the Danube, is a distinguished pianist and a talented conductor and composer. He has forged an indissoluble bond with Chinese music and began writing Chinese music works using Chinese folk music material in his early 30s. But, as he recalled, his first encounter with Chinese culture was at the age of 13 or 14, through some books of Chinese paintings. In his words, he was attracted by “the inside power of this kind of painting,” which is black and white and very different from western arts, but “expresses may be deeper and more profound from the soul of people.”

On May 23, Peter Ritzen will also present his work China Rhapsody - My Beloved Motherland, which is tailor-made for the debut of the Chongqing Festival Orchestra to the audience. Speaking about the reason why he wrote this rhapsody, Peter Ritzen said, "My wife is Chinese, and my son lives in China, too. This is the land of my family, and it is very important to me."

The concert also features the Chinese Philharmonic Quartet, the famous vocalist Fan Jingma, and the American soprano Juliette, who will enchant the audience in the mountain city with their beautiful voices.

The concert will be staged on May 23. Citizens who are interested in it can go to the website of the theatre to purchase tickets.