Mongolian culture to highlight New Year's concert

Updated: 2015-01-30 13:46

Appreciating Inner Mongolia's beautiful prairie landscape and the passionate, untrammeled spirit of the Mongolian people through music will be the goal of a concert Feb 14 at River Rock Casino Theatre in British Columbia.

Hosted by the Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations and United Global Chinese Women's Association of Canada, and organized by Harmony Culture Media Communication Ltd, the Date with the Prairie 2015 New Year Concert will showcase traditional Mongolian music performances by singing group Lucky Three, popular folk singer Udawood and a performance by world-renowned morin khuur (Mongolian horse-head fiddle) master Bo Li.

Known as "the horse-head fiddle's finest player", Bo Li has performed for audiences from a number of countries including China, Japan, Singapore and the US. An artist in residence at the University of Washington, Li has been invited to perform at the Northwest Arts Festival five times since 2005.

Li has also collaborated with top-tier philharmonic orchestras, such as the Tokyo Philharmonic, the North German Philharmonic Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony. Japanese television network NHK also made a documentary on his artistry.

The upcoming concert will be Li's first-ever performance in Canada, and he will bring his well-known instrument the Legend of Morin Khuur. In addition, Li will also perform as a guest artist at a Lunar New Year special concert presented by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on Feb 28.

The Date with the Prairie concert aims to introduce the unique culture of China's Mongolian ethnic group to Canadian audiences, as well as promote the exchange of performing arts between East and West.