Royal Academy of Music marks Spring Festival with East-West Dialogue concert

Michael Wood, president of SACU, said musical dialogue between China and the West dates back to the 17th century, when Italian missionary Matteo Ricci arrived in China and presented the emperor with a clavichord, a stringed keyboard instrument unknown to the Chinese.

Wood described this exchange as "the moment in which there was a spark of change", noting that the "fascinating backstory" of musical exchange continues to this day.

2025 marks the Chinese Year of the Snake, coinciding with 1965 — the year SACU was founded to promote friendship between the British and Chinese people — which was also the Year of the Snake.

"Through such a concert, I hope we all see the possibilities that emerge when different cultures engage in exchange and mutual learning," he said. "That is SACU's mission, too, to promote better understanding between the UK and China, at this awkward time in international relations. And music, as always, is the universal language breaking down the barriers."

Guo Xinyi, founder of the Sino-British Ensemble, expressed her hope that the concert would help strengthen bonds between people of diverse backgrounds and promote exchange between Eastern and Western civilizations.