Feature: Chicago concert bridges cultures through Chinese, American folk songs

CHICAGO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The familiar strains of "Shenandoah" brought tears to Marci Jarog's eyes during a downtown Chicago concert on Saturday. For a song she thought she knew by heart, something was different this time.

Performed in a newly arranged symphonic choral version featuring a Chinese community chorus, the American folk classic offered Jarog a fresh perspective on a melody deeply rooted in American musical tradition.

"I thought I had heard this song a million times already, and then today I heard it differently," Jarog told Xinhua after the performance. "I think that hearing an unexpected cultural representation of 'Shenandoah' was even more moving than anything I would have expected."

More than 500 musicians, singers, dancers and community artists took part in the concert titled "Bridges We Build, Memories We Keep" at Chicago Symphony Center, drawing an audience of more than 2,000. The event was organized by the Midwest Asian Health Association.

Among the highlights were the world premieres of newly arranged symphonic choral versions of the American folk song "Shenandoah" and the Chinese folk song "Jasmine Flower."

"Music has a unique power to connect us across cultures, generations, and memories," said Elizabeth Jia, artistic director of the concert.

"I wanted those traditions to listen to one another, speak to one another, and ultimately create something that none of them could create alone," she said.

The concert brought together Western classical repertoire, Chinese art songs and instrumental works, opera, choral music and dance, taking audiences on a journey across different musical traditions.

Internationally acclaimed violinist Liu Yang performed an excerpt from the Chinese violin concerto "The Butterfly Lovers." Chinese baritone Hu Sihao, a member of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago and a prizewinner of China's Golden Bell Awards, also took the stage alongside soprano Boya Wei and other featured artists.

"It was fantastic. It was very well put together, and everyone was very professional," Jackie Carreras, who attended the concert at the invitation of a friend, told Xinhua after the performance.

"It's just beautiful to learn about different cultures, such as the Chinese culture, so I really enjoyed it," she said.

For Shelly Carter, the concert left her wanting to learn more. "It was like the whole world was up there, that mixed a lot of culture," she said, adding that she hoped to learn more about Chinese music and culture in the future.

As two folk traditions met in newly created symphonic arrangements and artists from different cultural backgrounds shared the same stage, the concert became more than a performance -- it served as a musical bridge connecting cultures, generations and memories.