Ethnic harmonies

Wood and Fire, which was founded by Jiang in 2015, features four members, including Jiang's wife, Zhang Xiaohui, and was one of the ensembles that performed in the opening concerts of the NCPA August Chorus Festival.

Liu Xiaogeng, a veteran composer and the artistic director of the concerts, says he curated the programs from over 100 folk songs from Chinese ethnic groups, hoping to display the beauty and the diversity of Chinese folk music. People from nearly 10 ethnic groups from Southwest China, including Nu, Lisu, Miao, Zhuang and Dong, performed in the concerts.

"The songs were divided into four chapters: Love Songs, Singing for Nature, Toast Songs and Singing for a Good Life. The value of the songs goes beyond music itself. They need to be preserved and heard because they provide access to the origins of the cultural identity of those ethnic groups," says Liu, who was born and raised in Yunnan's Luquan Yi and Miao autonomous county. He graduated from Yunnan Arts University as a composer in 1981 and has traveled around the country collecting, researching and adapting ethnic music into songs for choral singing. So far, he has collected over 6,000 folk songs from ethnic groups in Southwest China.

"Their songs conjure up images of mountains, rivers and forests, which provide a great escape for people living in cities," adds Liu.