NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- A mini concert featuring the collaboration of two traditional Chinese string instruments was held on Saturday in New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) as part of a whole-day celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year.
Over 200 museum goers were attracted by the enchanting melodies of guqin and guzheng when they passed by the Robert Lehman Wing on the ground floor of the Met, where Wu Na and Chang Jing, two master performers from China, sat side-by-side playing Chinese musical classics such as "A Night of Flowers and Moonlight by the Spring River" and "Invisible Mountain," adding a vibe of tranquility to the crowded museum.
Two impromptus were also presented at the beginning and the end of the concert respectively, making spectators marvel at the brilliant cooperation between the two masters.
"This is just beautiful," said a spectator who identified himself only as Carlos. "I've never heard something like this before."
Chang Jing, who performed a guzheng solo at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, told Xinhua that she hoped the concert could deliver the happiness of Lunar New Year and help more people better understand contemporary Chinese musicians.
"We played those Chinese classics to make people experience the essence of traditional Chinese culture, and the impromptus were modern interpretations of this ancient art," she said.
Jointly sponsored by the Met and the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation, the concert was one of dozens of activities taking place on the same day at the museum to ring in the Year of the Pig, together with lion dancing, hand-pulled noodle demonstration, and guided tours in Chinese painting galleries.
Founded in 1872, the Met is the largest art museum in the United States. It is among the top three most visited art museums in the world with some 7 million visitors from across the globe per year.
