Concert celebrates China-U.S. friendship

 
Singer Huo Zun performs in Chicago, the United States, on Sept. 17, 2017. A concert on the theme of China-U.S. friendship was staged at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park in downtown Chicago Sunday, attracting thousands of Chinese nationals and Americans alike. (Xinhua/Wang Ping) 

CHICAGO, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- A concert on the theme of China-U.S. friendship was staged at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park in downtown Chicago Sunday, attracting thousands of Chinese nationals and Americans alike.

More than 1,000 performers from 30 theater troupes in the U.S. Midwest participated in the performance.

The concert began with the Chinese tune Dance of the Golden Snake, and presented a mix of traditional Chinese and U.S. music and songs.

The orchestra played Good News From Beijing Spreads Borderland, the Thundered March, Visions of the West Lake and Cloud Gate, and singers presented such Chinese and U.S. folk songs as Me and My Homeland among others.

The Silk Cedar Ensemble presented the audience with Chinese folk music Faraway Place. When a U.S. singer sang to the tune in Chinese, the audience errupted in warm applause.

Chicago-based Dongfang Chinese Performing Arts Dance Group presented Chinese folk dance Flower Blossom, while performers from the Jiangsu Performing Group from the Chinese mainland brought the audience the Beijing Opera dance Ode to Pear in traditional Chinese costumes.

The concert ended with Auld Lang Syne.

Chinese Consul General in Chicago Hong Lei praised the concert as a song of friendship jointly composed by Chinese and U.S. artists, saying the concert is an embodiment of "the solid foundation for Sino-U.S. friendship" in the U.S. Midwest. He hopes the concert will further enhance understanding and mutual trust among people of the two countries, adding that the Sino-American friendship is heading to a better tomorrow.

Mark Heckler, President of Valparaiso University, hailed the concert as a celebration of friendship between the two nations.

Robert Collins lives close to the Millennium Park and has watched plenty of performances staged here. He called a concert with so many Chinese elements "unique," expressing a wish to watch a similar performance in the future.