London concert to ring in Chinese New Year

Sinfonia Smith Square concert hall is scheduled to host "The Golden Horse Soars" 2026 Heritage in Harmony Chinese New Year Concert on Feb 14. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

London's Grade I listed Sinfonia Smith Square concert hall will host "The Golden Horse Soars" 2026 Heritage in Harmony Chinese New Year Concert on Feb 14, with a global livestream.

Held to mark Spring Festival, which falls three days later, the musical feast will feature outstanding musicians from the Royal College of Music, alongside the UK Chinese Music Ensemble and the UK Chinese Youth Choir.

Traditional Chinese instruments will join the orchestra, voice and choir. Ancient melodies, folk songs and modern works inspired by tradition will come together to tell stories of nature, memory and belonging.

The concert follows a "4H" narrative framework, namely Health, Hope, Harmony and Home. The "Health" chapter opens with solos and small ensemble works that highlight breath, space and flow in Chinese music. This is followed by "Hope", as Eastern instruments merge with Western harmony. In "Harmony", Eastern and Western timbres coexist and interact within a shared sound field, expressing cross-cultural understanding and the idea of unity without uniformity. The final chapter, "Home", brings the concert to an emotional climax with the introduction of the full chorus.

Renowned young pianist Jiang Bingbing will join forces with an orchestra of outstanding Chinese musicians from the Royal College of Music to perform Mirage Steed, a brand-new symphonic work written specifically for this event by Australian-Chinese composer Ray Lin, who also serves as the concert's music director and conductor, in its world premiere.

The piece draws its imagery from an ancient Chinese term describing a thousand-mile horse, symbolizing an unstoppable spirit of self-transcendence reflected in personal growth, cultural heritage and cross-border exchange.

Beyond the creation of the new, the inheritance of the ancient shines with equal brilliance. Young performer Lu Zongpu — on the dizi, a Chinese flute, and the xiao, a vertical flute — will collaborate with Professor Cheng Yu of the Academy of Asian and African Studies to present Plum Blossom Melody, or Meihua Sannong, a symbolic work in Chinese musical culture with a history spanning more than three millennia.

"Music is a universal language," Jiang said. "Performing overseas, especially during the New Year period, I hope the audience can not only feel the festive celebration but also touch upon a shared emotion through the music: a longing for the future and a desire to break boundaries."

As an official flagship event of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China's "Happy Chinese New Year" global program, the 2026 concert is produced by Morten Yu, executive producer and artistic director of Time Capsule Music and New Elements Music. The event is also supported by the Cultural Office of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, in partnership with the UK Chinese Music Ensemble, the UK Chinese Youth Choir and Wilson &Co.