[Photo/china.com.cn]

The Chicago Symphony Center Sunday unveiled the two-week Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Chicago with an all traditional Chinese music concert.

An audience of more than 2,000 listened to the National Chinese Traditional Orchestra performing a selection of Chinese folk music, most of which is composed by Ma Jiuyue, a well-known Chinese composer who participated in the Gala show for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and China's Third Poem Festival.

The concert started with Chinese folk music "Dance of the Golden Snake", and featured such Chinese well-known tones as "Horse Racing", "Purple Bamboo Melody", "Fisherman Song at Eventide", "Joyful Celebration", and "Elixir of Love." When members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the National Chinese Traditional Orchestra jointly played "Huxuan Dance" composed by Ma Jiuyue, the concert came to a climax with cheers and applause from the audience lasting a long time.

The idea for a Chinese Lunar New Year concert began when Chicago Symphony Orchestra President Jeff Alexander decided to bring a little bit of China to Chicago.

"Different orchestras across North America are beginning to do this, and in Chicago there was no Chinese New Year concert presented by the Symphony Orchestra," he told Xinhua, "In one of our planning sessions we decided just to give it a try. Obviously it's going very well with the great attendance today and the great guest orchestra."

Jeff plans to make the Chinese New Year concert an annual event.