Echoing the rhythm of progress and composing a glorious chapter of the times, the closing ceremony of the 8th Nie Er Music Week Kunming venue was held at Dongfeng Square on the evening of July 23rd. A powerful lineup of over 230 performers, including the Kunming Nie Er Symphony Orchestra, the Kunming Music and Arts Association, the Yunnan Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Macao Orchestra, the Kunming Yunling Zhisheng Chorus, the Yunnan Tingfeng Chorus, as well as specially invited vocalists, recitation guests, and instrumentalists, collaboratively performed the grand and inspiring "The Long March Suite" and other classic works. Through the medium of "music," they honored Nie Er's patriotic spirit and sang the anthem of the new era.

The audience captured the memorable moment of the performance with their phones. Photo by Reporter Meng Zhubin, Dushi Shibao.

A Wonderful Experience: Kunming Residents Listen to the Concert in the Evening Breeze

Even before the performance began, citizens and tourists had already surrounded the stage, eagerly anticipating the event.

At 8:45 PM, as the lights of the surrounding buildings illuminated the night sky over Dongfeng Square, recitations and the stirring music of "Farewell" rang out. The closing ceremony of the 8th Nie Er Music Week Kunming Venue - the Spring City Music Concert: Large-Scale Vocal Suite "The Long March Suite" officially began. With the fervent chorus blending with the orchestral melodies, the audience held up their phones and, accompanied by the gentle evening breeze, listened to the beautiful concert with their friends and family, feeling the uplifting power of the music.

Revisiting the Classics: "The Long March Suite" Resonates with the Audience

"The Long March Suite" was created in 1965 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March. The lyricist, Xiao Hua, was a participant in the Long March himself. He spent six months writing 12 long poems, and 10 of them were eventually set to music. He employed a "three-seven-phrases, four-eight-line" format, integrating personal emotions into the epic narrative. During the creative process, he was often moved to tears recalling his fallen comrades. The suite was composed jointly by Chen Geng, Sheng Mao, Tang He, and Yu Qiu, who skillfully incorporated folk music from the regions the Long March traversed, creating an artistic style that was both "national" and "popular," blending traditional Red Army songs with regional influences.

The performance scene of "The Long March Suite." Photo by Reporters Meng Zhubin and Li Hao, Dushi Shibao.

During the performance, the familiar melodies of "Farewell," "Breaking Through the Blockade," and "Zunyi Conference Shines with Glory," from "The Long March Suite," immediately resonated with the audience. Guo Zhixin, Deputy Director of the Kunming Nie Er Symphony Orchestra, explained the significance, noting that 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, and also the 90th anniversary of the birth of "March of the Volunteers." The "Long March Suite," having been performed widely to this day, has become a household classic, providing a surging spiritual force for generations of patriots and dreamers.

After the "Long March Suite" performance, the Yunnan Tingfeng Chorus brought the encore surprises, "Ten Farewells to the Red Army" and "Qingshen Yichang (Deep Friendship, Lasting Forever)" the melodious singing lingering in the night sky of Dongfeng Square. Subsequently, all the chorus singers on the scene led the audience in singing "Ode to the Motherland," accompanied by the music week's theme lighting show on the surrounding buildings, and the atmosphere of the entire closing ceremony reached its climax. At this moment, music became a bridge connecting the public and art, and the closing ceremony of the 8th Nie Er Music Week Kunming Venue came to a successful conclusion.

Conductor Hu Xingyu from the Kunming Nie Er Symphony Orchestra conducted the performance. Photo by Reporters Meng Zhubin and Li Hao, Dushi Shibao.

A Variety of Performances: This Year's Music Week Was Rich in Activities

As a grand event for artistic exchange and display and an important carrier for carrying forward Nie Er's patriotic spirit, the series of activities of the 8th Nie Er Music Week, since its opening, the Kunming venue has launched "Opening Ceremony + 5 Theme Activities + 6 Series Activities" with the theme of "Pursuit—Tribute—Inheritance," and showcasing the charm of Yunnan culture with the "music + culture and tourism" model, and with the spiritual core of "There is a Lifestyle Called Yunnan," it continues to contribute to the improvement of regional cultural soft power and the development of cultural tourism integration.

During this year's Music Week, Yunnan's premiere of "Songs of Nie Er" received rave reviews. The courtyard drama "Nie Er" was performed wonderfully at the Ma Family Courtyard, attracting thousands to attend. The release of the thematic route "Discover Kunming Through the Lens of Nie Er" and the 8th Nie Er Music Week Kunming Cultural Tourism Hand-drawn Map invited citizens and tourists to follow Nie Er's footsteps and experience the spirit of Nie Er in the spring city at 22°C. In addition, a series of master class art popularization and sharing events, music flash mob interactions, city concerts, intangible cultural heritage experiences, and cultural exchanges between Shanghai, Yunnan and Macao, attracted numerous tourists from other places and citizens of the spring city to actively participate.

This year's Nie Er Music Week is not only a grand event for artistic exchange and display, an important carrier for carrying forward Nie Er's patriotic spirit, but also an important platform for polishing the "There is a Lifestyle Called Yunnan" calling card, and enhancing the sense of gain from "Sojourning in Yunnan." The successful holding of the event will further demonstrate the charm of Colorful Yunnan and Spring City Kunming, allowing the patriotic spirit of Nie Er to flourish in the new era.