At the event, musicians from the orchestra performed several popular pieces with traditional Chinese musical instruments, such as erhu (a two-stringed bowed musical instrument), pipa (a four-string lute), and xiao (Chinese wind instruments similar to clarinets and flutes).

"The four pieces are all very good. Such a good opportunity does not come along that often," said Keith Lane, a local resident.

He particularly mentioned the last piece played with yueqin (also called the moon guitar) accompanied with a narrative of an ancient poem. "That's what I picked up on coz I can relate it to a lot of modern musics and the blues that I heard many years ago."

"Music is music. it can take down language barriers. Through music, you can get what the musicians are trying to express," he said, suggesting promoting the event on a larger scale so that "everybody can hear and understand the music."

The two programs will be performed at Lincoln Center on Friday and Carnegie Hall on Sunday, respectively.

"I will definitely consider going to the events," Lane said.