Living in her studio located in Beijing's eastern suburbs, Liu, an internationally renowned, pioneering composer, vocalist, writer and artist, is recovering from a severe illness that has kept her bedridden for about four years.

She was invited to compose the new piece, The Legend of Monkey King, a project which took her eight months to finish.

In the beginning, Liu could only work for 30 minutes a day, gradually building up to one hour. She calls the new work "a celebration of life".

The premiere of the piece was staged by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Liu Sola and Friends Band, under the baton of conductor Zhang, in Shanghai on Oct 6, 2022.

Before the concert in Beijing, Yu Long, founder of Beijing Music Festival, and Zou Shuang, artistic director of the festival, presented Liu with an Artist of the Year award, acknowledging her contribution to China's music scene.

"During the past 40 years, she has released a large number of successful works, covering a wide range of art forms, such as opera, dance drama, musical, symphony and film scores. She is also a pioneer, creating a musical style of her own by absorbing a diversity of genres, such as classical, jazz and rock," says Yu of Liu.