The Confucius Institute of Sapporo University Held a Concert

Oct 11^th:The 2012 String Concert was held at the Confucius Institute of Sapporo Universityon Sep 29^th. The idea of the concert came from the Hokkaido Liaison meeting that celebrated the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations, one of the folk activities between China and Japan. Chinese erhu player Xiumin Peng, Japanese violinist Zhongtiao Chengyi and pianist Waichuan Zhenli formed a musical group and gave a concert full of Chinese elements.

At the beginning of the concert, President Aoki Masanori gave a speech. He mentioned that forty years ago, both Chinese and Janpanese leaders conquered all the obstacles and achieved the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations and he said that as teenagers in the twenty-first century, we should cherish everything. He thought that holding the concert on such a memorial day made it more significant.

Aoki Masanori giving a speech.

Later, Misaki Sato Toshio, the Director of Sapporo University, gave a speech. He said that music was a special language with no borders and it was a conversation bridge which could promote friendship among different countries. He said that he hopes that the concert will be a good influence on the friendship between China and Japan. He then gave an introduction about the Confucius Institute to the audience in hopes to do a better job with student enrollment next term.

Misaki Sato Toshio giving a speech.

Under the direction of Xiumin Peng, the musical group played a number of Japanese tracks with Chineses elements, famous pieces of China as well as Japan and some European classical music. People felt that the concert was a novel idea and they gained further understanding about the erhu instrument and the Chinese style of music.

The music group giving an excellent performance.

In the end, the climax of the concert came with the third and fourth movements of the Great Wall Caprice. Before the performance, Xiumin Peng introduced that the third movement was about Chinese people showing their grief to the patriotic soldiers, while the fourth movement expressed the Chinese nation's desire for peace. Their introduction and their playing won frequent applause from the audiences.

Sapporo University made full preparations to ensure the success of the concert. The musical group's playing not only helped to spread Chinese culture, but showed the good relationship between China and Japan. The mayor of Sapporo city Ueda Fumio and some other people sent their congratulations to the activities.

The Confucius Institute of Sapporo University also held a photo exhibition of Chinese culture and their institution which was received with great success.

On-spot interaction.

Source: GDUFS News Website