The ‘Chinese and Western music styles combine for unique performance‘ took place at the Bramall Music Building at the University of Birmingham.

The audience was overwhelmed by over 10 fascinating Chinese traditional instruments and music showcased by Professor Haiheng Li (Guangxi Arts Institute, Nanning) as well as the beautiful innovative musical instruments invented and created by Professor Li in collaboration with his wife Professor Jin Bai (Guangxi Arts Institute, Nanning).

There were two truly innovative and exceptional performances of the day. As western musicians would know, the famous piece of music Csárdás was written by an Italian composer specially for violins and it has a very dynamic melody with a fast rhythm. All Chinese musicians would know, the ancient musical instrument xun (clay based, with over 7,000 years of history) cannot be used for playing dynamic and fast songs. However, Professor Li brought to the British audience the world premiere of using his patented invention lian pu xun to perform Csárdás with piano accompaniment (performed by Ms Di Xiao from the University of Birmingham).

At the end of the programme, Professor Li asked for some water, and surprisingly, after drinking some water from a beautifully shaped cup, he started playing the American classic Home! Sweet Home! with his cup! The cup is called the hao kou bei and is the other musical instrument Professor Li invented for anyone who enjoys a cup of tea or coffee and music!

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