World renowned conductor Tan Dun led China's National Symphony Orchestra on Sunday night at Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts. The show not only paid tribute to Tan Dun's 20-year connection with the orchestra, but also saw him become honorary artistic consultant.

Twenty years of cooperation and friendship between conductor Tan Dun and the China National Symphony Orchestra is celebrated at a concert titled "A Passionate Night of Love and Fire." The performance features pieces by Borodin, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev and Ravel. Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor saw Tan Dun conduct the orchestra with lead violinst Lyu Siqing.

World renowned conductor Tan Dun led China's National Symphony Orchestra on Sunday night at Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts. [File photo]

Lyu has worked with Tan Dun four or five times, including his 'Hero' violin concerto which debuted in Poland. This February, they were working with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

"Tan Dun is not only excellent at creating but also outstanding at conducting classic masterpieces," Lyu said.

Tan earned international recognition for his movie scores, including for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero" as well as composing music for the medal ceremonies at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Over the years, he has been conducting orchestras all across the world. And now, he's come back home.

"Tan Dun is one of the most prestigious Chinese music artists in the world and has an enduring friendship with the National Symphony Orchestra. So we want to have artists like Tan Dun joining us, promoting traditional Chinese music around the world," said Guan Xia, director of the National Symphony Orchestra.

In the middle section of the concert, Tan Dun was given an honorary title from the orchestra, as artistic consultant, by Guan.

Guan Xia and Tan Dun were at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing at the same time, even under the tutelage of the same teacher. Decades later, their friendship has brought them back together.

"I hope that we can work closely in the future to bring the music of the National Symphony Orchestra to the world and bring the sound of China to the world. We also want to make the National Symphony Orchestra the cradle for the best Chinese music," Tan said.

Now a world renowned conductor, Tan Dun's music has no borders. He constantly tries to break boundaries and reinterpret a western symphony with a Chinese philosophy. Under his baton flows the music that integrates the east and west.

As a prolific composer, Tan creates music that takes inspiration from Chinese poems and legends. As an eminent conductor, he sees music as a dialogue between the composer and the orchestra.

The performance attracts audiences of all ages, including 90 children from a Beijing primary school.

"The music of Tan Dun and Lyu Siqing has taught me a lot and I feel inspired by them to keep practising the piano. I have been playing for 7 years already," a pupil said.

"I have singing lessons. I want to go to the Central Conservatory of Music in the future," another said.

The National Symphony Orchestra will have a spray of concert performances in store for music fans over the coming weeks. 

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