‘Ocean, my Hometown’ concert celebrates music of Wang Liping

The Ocean, my Hometown concert, featuring songs composed by renowned Chinese composer Wang Liping, was staged in a suburban theater in Chicago on Sunday night, arousing homesickness among the many Chinese-Americans present.

Local art troupe performers presented to the audience Wang’s songs including “Camel Bell,” “Flying Pigeons,” “Diving Girls,” “On the Island Sun” and “Joyful Song Flying off from Spray,” which were familiar tunes for many in the audience.

The Dream of the Red Chamber suite, a string of music and songs Wang composed in the late 1980s for the TV series of the same name, reminded many Chinese-Americans of their time watching the TV series during the summer holidays from middle and high school. For many the show was their first taste of this classic Chinese literature work.

“The Shepherd Song” and “Shaolin, Shaolin,” which Wang composed for Shaolin Temple in the early 1980s, caused a stir and drew continuous applause. A soft female voice accompanied by a masculine male chorus as well as a martial arts performance brought people back to the time when they watched the film numerous times.

Sitting among the audience during the performance, Wang could not help but join the final chorus of “Ocean, my Hometown,” leading all people in the theater hall to sing along.

Before the concert, Wang told the Xinhua News Agency in an interview that when composing “Ocean, my Hometown,” the theme he wanted to convey was a love consisting of nostalgia, affection and friendship.

Qiao Wanjun, a well-known Chinese-American conductor as well as the organizer of the concert, told Xinhua that his goal in organizing a global tour for the concert was to present some of China’s best musical products to the world.

Qiao plans to stage 79 concerts worldwide in less than three years before having the 80th in Beijing to salute Wang on his 80th birthday.

Chicago is the fourth leg of the world tour, which kicked off on September 29 in Boston, Massachusetts.