“Chinese Memories” Concert Held in Belgium

A concert entitled “Chinese Memories” was held in the western Belgian city of Ghent on February 18 to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

All musical pieces performed during the concert were composed by the Belgian composer Johan Famaey and performed and sung in Chinese by Belgian artists. The elegant music blending Chinese and Western styles drew the audience into the poetic and dreamlike artistic world of ancient Chinese poetry.

“This is how Chinese Memories should be understood: an ode to

China,” said Famaey, who previously lived in east China’s Qingdao City from 2005 to 2009.

“Chinese Memories is kind of a combination of tunes I created for some poetry from the Tang and Song dynasties that my Chinese wife and I selected with music from the romantic era. Since Baroque music sounds very exotic to the Chinese people, it inspired me with this idea of bringing things together,” he said.

The concert was led by renowned conductor Geert Baetens and featured Famaey himself who played the yangqin, a traditional Chinese musical instrument, accompanied by an orchestra and children’s choir.