On the night of Saturday, Feb. 16, guests poured into Hall Auditorium at Miami University, some having traveled great distances to see the sold-out show. The Lunar New Year Gala was co-sponsored by the Confucius Institute, the Chinese American Culture Association (CACA) and the Performing Arts Series.

The Confucius Institute at Miami University hosted two famous Chinese classical musicians for this event: Jin Shan (whose Mongolian name is Alatengwula) and Yazhi Guo.

Jin played “Ten Thousand Galloping Horses” on the matouqin, his instrument of choice. The notes of the song reverberated through the whole theater, giving the impression that there was actually a stampede of horses in the room.

The matouqin looks like a small cello, with two strings that the musician plays. However, what many people do not know is that each of these two strings is actually made up of 100 smaller horse hairs.

Shan also played many songs throughout the night, including “Swan Geese,” “Shepherd’s Song” and “Gada Meilin.”

Yazhi Guo usually plays the suona, a black, trumpet-like Chinese instrument, although he is also skilled at a variety of other instruments. Guo received the Pro Musicis award in 1998 in New York and the Hong Kong Best Artist Award in 2012.

At the Lunar New Year Gala, Guo demonstrated his skill by playing a variety of songs such as “The Love of Boat Tracker,” “Good Man Song,” “Jasmine Flower” and “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to Phoenix.”

At one point, he stood onstage beside a table full of different types of instruments, and he played a short song on each, proving his talent with a wide array of instruments, such as the xun (a 7000-year-old instrument which resembles a vase with holes in it), dizi (similar to a flute), bamboo flute and cubit flute.

Although Jin and Guo are both classical musicians, their styles are very different. Shan’s music is more emotional and brought some in the audience to tears. In contrast, Guo’s songs were more up-beat, causing the audience to clap along to the music.

Jin and Guo had met before, but they had never played a duet as people think matouqin and suona’s styles do not blend well together. However, after requests for an encore, they played a beautiful song together. This could be the first times these two instruments have been played together.

“Music, there is no boundary,” said Mi Shen, chairwoman of the Alliance of Chinese Culture and Arts. “It’s easy to connect people … People with different backgrounds come here to celebrate the different cultural heritage. I think this is the way people communicate and understand each other.”

Genie Chuo, a popular Taiwanese singer and actress, came onstage near the end of the night, singing some of her most famous songs. Her energy lit up the room, and the audience waved their arms in tune to the music, holding up the lights of their phones and singing along.

In addition to performances from Miami’s Chinese guests, many of the Confucius Institute’s student groups performed. The Han Costume club paired with the Chinese classical music ensemble. The lion dance club, folk dance club and dztb, a hip-hop group, also performed.

A few students led by Sherman Zhang, the Confucius Institute’s tai chi instructor, performed a tai chi routine.

Senior psychology major Natalie Goldfein-Killilea took a tai chi class from Zhang last semester, who invited her to perform in the Lunar New Year show. Through her involvement in the show, she has been able to interact with a lot of international students.

“We have a really big proportion of international students here at Miami, so it’s important that they get to have these events, so they feel at home, and they can also share their culture with domestic students,” Goldfein-Killilea said.

Shen has lived in the United States for around 20 years, but she has never seen a student show because she did not think they would be high-quality. After attending the Lunar New Year Gala, she said she was amazed at the talent of the Miami students and all the performers.

After the event, many visitors commented on its success.

“This is a wonderful cultural celebration,” said Jacqueline Rioja Velarde, associate director of the Center for American and World Cultures at Miami. “It’s an opportunity for the whole community to learn more about Chinese culture but at the same time integrate these kind of cultural events into our community.”

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