China to Host International Chinese Musical Instruments ContestChina will host a series of international traditional Chinese musical instrument contests from this year on.Sponsored by a Hong Kong-based music company and the People's Music magazine under the Chinese Musicians Association, this year' s contest featuring the "Zheng", a Chinese zither with 25 strings, will be held from July to November in Beijing. Yu Qingxin, an official on the contest's organizing committee, said here Wednesday that the contest will follow a loop sequence starting with the "Zheng", and including the "Erhu", a two-string bowed instrument, the "Pi-pa", a plucked string instrument with a fretted fingerboard, and the traditional Chinese bamboo flute. The purpose of the contest is to provide opportunities for young musicians to perform on stage, develop traditional Chinese music and promote international exchanges in the field. "China hosted its first international Chinese musical instruments contest in 1989, attracting 500 domestic and overseas performers," Yu said. Chinese artists have staged many Chinese music concerts abroad in recent years, he said, adding, their performances are warmly received by foreign audiences. |
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