A concert entitled ‘Melodies of the Silk Road — A Joyful Spring Festival’ was held in Ashgabat to mark the Chinese New Year. This was reported by IIC.

The event was held at the ‘Mukam’ Palace of the State Cultural Centre of Turkmenistan and was aimed at developing humanitarian cooperation between Turkmenistan and the PRC.

The festive programme began with themed events in the foyer, where guests were introduced to Chinese cultural traditions and took part in master classes on calligraphy and painting national masks.

The highlight of the evening was a joint concert by the Chinese art group ‘Touchroad’ and the State Symphony Orchestra of Turkmenistan. The programme featured music played on traditional Chinese instruments, folk songs and dances, as well as excerpts from Beijing Opera and the Sichuan Opera show ‘Face Changing’.

The classical section featured works by Nury Halmammedov, and the finale consisted of joint performances by Chinese soloists and the Turkmen orchestra, culminating in the composition ‘China in the Lights.’