Palace Museum, orchestra join hands for concerts on Chinese festivals

The Palace Museum in Beijing, also known as the Forbidden City, and China National Traditional Orchestra joined hands to present concerts highlighting Chinese festivals on Nov 14 and 15 in Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in Beijing.

Eight representative Chinese festivals -- the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival, the Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Qixi Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Double Ninth Festival and The Winter Solstice -- were chosen for the concerts titled Tiandi Yongle (Everlasting Joy of Heaven and Earth).

This year marks the 600th anniversary of the constructional completion of the Forbidden City, China's imperial palace from 1420 to 1911, and the 60th anniversary marking the founding of the orchestra. Yongle is also the name of the reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) emperor who ordered the construction of the Forbidden City.

Various traditional musical instruments, dancing and chanting of poetry, along with high-tech multimedia elements such as motion capture equipment, were combined for the show, borrowing cultural elements from the Palace Museum.

The show will later tour around the country and will launch cross-border collaboration with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Symphony Orchestra.