BEIJING, June 5, Xinhua - Every year on June 5th is the World Environment Day, also called Eco Day, and is a call for global awareness about protecting the environment. To mark the occasion, famed composer and conductor Tan Dun has charmed Beijing on Thursday with an outdoor concert at Chaoyang Park.

To mark the occasion, famed composer and conductor Tan Dun has charmed Beijing on Thursday with an outdoor concert at Chaoyang Park.(Source: CNTV.cn)

With the theme "listen to nature", the concert sees the China National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of composer Tan Dun to mark World Environment Day.

The program has been carefully hand-picked by Tan, and includes Dinicu's "Ciocarlia", with the violinist imitating birds chirping... the cello of Saint-Saens' "Swan"... and the serene piano of Debussy's "Moonlight".

Apart from western classics, Tan's "Nature's Resurrection", which features passages from his "Martial Arts Trilogy", is also performed.

"Life is opera and the opera is life. So tonight's program is like first act, second act. The first act is like overture, and the second act is singing to the sky, birds and to earth with swan then to the moonlight, then after that we put the three together the triple concerto. The triple concerto also has a underlying meaning," composer/conductor Tan Dun said.
As usual, Tan has incorporated water as an instrument to explore the musicality of nature.

And this time, UNESCO's Goodwill Ambassador has joined hands with the Alashan Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology, China's largest NGO for environmental protection.

"Ten years ago Beijing was hit by one of the worst sand storms in its history. Back then a group of conscious entrepreneurs went to the Alashan League, where the sand storm originated, and formed Alashan SEE, the Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology, to improve environmental protection in China. We hope tonight's concert will be a good start," said Tong Shumeng, initiator of 2014 Beijing Summer Forest Concert.

The ending piece "Bolero" brings the audience to their feet.
Tan says he had a hard time finding the right closing piece, and that the idea of playing "Bolero" came to him only a day before the concert.

But it worked out just fine.

World Environment Day was declared by the United Nations in 1972.

It's aim is to stimulate global awareness of environmental issues, as well as political attention and action.

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