Li Huanzhi
Spring Festival Overture

Wang Yunfei
Dream of Taihu

Wang Danhong
Ode to the Sun – II. Shoulder Poles

Traditional – Li Fubin:
Ambush from All Sides (concerto for pipa and orchestra)

Zhao Jiping
Guo Feng – National Spirit

Deng Jiandong
Spring Dawn (concerto for erhu and orchestra)

Jiang Ying
The Silk Road

Conductor:

Sun Peng

Featuring:

Zhang Hongyan – pipa (Chinese plucked instrument)
Deng Jiandong – erhu (Chinese violin)
Wuxi Traditional Chinese Orchestra

A quarter of the earth’s population – in China and other countries in the Far East – celebrates the arrival of the new year not on the first of January, but on the first day of the new moon based on a constantly shifting combined lunar and solar calendar. In 2026, the Year of the Snake gave way to the Year of the Horse on 17 February. On this occasion, Müpa Budapest will once again present its singular Grand Chinese New Year’s Concert, which seeks to unite the classical music traditions of East and West, this time with a guest appearance by Wuxi Traditional Chinese Orchestra, under the baton of Sun Peng, featuring pipa artist Zhang Hongyan and erhu artist Deng Jiandong as part of their European tour. Over the course of their tour, European audiences will have the chance to listen to the ancient sounds of China’s traditional instruments, while witnessing the innovative fusion of traditional Chinese music with Western music.

Wuxi Traditional Chinese Orchestra – Greetings for the Grand Chinese New Year Concert 2026:

In East Asia, Chinese New Year is comparable to the Christian tradition of Christmas. Preparations for the holiday start as early as mid-December, with weeks of cooking and baking and gifts being purchased or made for relatives, friends and acquaintances, as people put lacy paper cuttings up in their windows and clean their houses, often taking the opportunity to paint and whitewash them as well. There is a spiritual significance to the latter beyond the hygienic aspect, as it cleanses one’s home of harmful spirits and bad fortune too. The firecrackers that are traditionally part of the holiday also serve the same purpose.

Also part of celebrating the Chinese New Year in style is the major concert series launched in 1998 with the primary aim of bringing the musical cultures of Europe and Asia closer together. Over the past three decades, leading Chinese ensembles and musicians touring venues like Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Berliner Philharmonie have visited Müpa Budapest to perform live traditional Chinese music with classical instruments while dressed in the customary attire.