Central and Eastern Europe composers find inspiration in China

"I'm very impressed by the vastness of Chinese cities, the integration between music and people's lives, and most of all, China's investment in both modern and traditional music education," said Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov, also a participant in the 2016 field trip. "The Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in Hangzhou is the most impressive education complex for music I have ever seen."

"Cultural interactions create possibilities for cooperation and communication," Liu Shun, professor of the China Conservatory of Music, said. "Professional exchange, for example in the musical field, will facilitate people-to-people friendship among nations."

This year's field trip is the second round of the Central and Eastern European Countries Composers' Field Trip in China initially proposed by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2015 and held in 2016.

The program serves part of the Suzhou Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries, and the Sofia Declaration on Cultural Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (2016-2017).

To share Chinese music with a global audience, visiting composers are commissioned to compose music suitable for Chinese instruments in the year after their visit. Their resulting works will be premiered during the 2019 China-CEEC Cultural Season.