To commemorate the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations and to promote cultural diversity and mutual learning among civilizations, the concert “Conversation & Connection: Elegant Melodies by Pipa π” was grandly held on June 13 at the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg.
The event was hosted by the China International Culture Association, with the support of the Embassy of China in Luxembourg, and co-organized by the China Cultural Center in Luxembourg, the Network of International Culturalink Entities, the China Conservatory of Music, and the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg.
The concert drew an audience of over 150 distinguished guests from various sectors, including diplomacy, culture, education, finance, and the Chinese community in both China and Europe.
Centering on the theme “Conversation & Connection,” the concert built a musical bridge that transcended language and cultural barriers through a dialogue-style performance featuring traditional Chinese instruments—such as the pipa, guzheng, zhongruan, bamboo flute, and Chinese drum—alongside Western instruments like the piano and guitar. The result was a richly layered audiovisual feast that blended diverse musical traditions and resonated deeply with the audience.
The concert opened with the four-part pipa piece "Summer", characterized by lively rhythms and rich techniques, vividly portraying a summer scene where morning dew meets the blazing sun. The guzheng solo "Morning Mist", infused with elements of traditional opera and Beijing folk arts, used poetic melodies to evoke the misty morning rain over Beijing and its unique cultural charm.
"Moonlight over the Spring River", performed as a trio featuring guzheng, pipa, and xiao (bamboo flute), painted a tender moonlit scene of a southern Chinese riverside town. Its graceful and lingering melody unfolded like an elegant landscape painting. The duet "As the Clouds Think, As the Flowers Long", for pipa and piano, was inspired by Li Bai’s poem Qing Ping Yue, and expressed both the gentleness and resilience of the feminine spirit.
Adapted from a traditional Peking Opera tune, "Deep into the Night" featured a continuous, forceful melody with powerful rhythms, showcasing the profound strength and artistic tension characteristic of Peking Opera music. In "A Thousand-Mile Musical Bond," Professor Ge Yong from the China Conservatory of Music and Professor Hany Heshmat from the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg performed a cross-cultural duet, creating a soulful resonance between Chinese and Western instruments. This collaboration symbolized the harmony of civilizations and the beauty of shared diversity, adding a unique and memorable dimension to the concert.
The grand finale, "Bamboo Spring," was a collaborative performance by the Pipa π Chamber Ensemble and Professor Hany Heshmat of the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg. Seamlessly blending traditional Chinese melodies with jazz rhythms, the piece highlighted the creativity and vitality of East-West musical elements in contemporary expression.
The entire performance flowed seamlessly, with waves of climactic moments and prolonged applause. Audience members remarked that it was an artistic experience that transcended cultural boundaries, allowing them to deeply feel the unique power of music as a universal language.
As the sole strategic partner of the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations global initiative, Bank of China actively participated in the concert. The bank set up an exhibition booth at the entrance of the concert hall, with dedicated staff on site introducing the “China Inbound Travel Financial Products” and the “BOC Compass” app designed for European tourists. These services help travelers planning to visit China access comprehensive financial solutions more conveniently, including seamless payments, foreign exchange, and travel insurance.
This offering provides strong support for enhancing cross-border travel experiences and facilitating cultural exchange. It has also become a new model of how financial services can promote people-to-people exchange and mutual learning among civilizations.
The China Cultural Center in Luxembourg will continue to dedicate itself to promoting cultural exchange and people-to-people connectivity between China and Europe, deepening dialogue among civilizations, and fostering mutual integration and coexistence. It aims to contribute more Chinese wisdom and voices toward building an open and inclusive global cultural ecosystem.
Photo credits: Jiang Yida, Zhou Ti