Strings attached

The China National Symphony Orchestra's leadership ponders how its New Year concert fits into the country's changing views of classical music. Chen Nan reports.

China National Symphony Orchestra (CNSO) executive director Guan Xia has spent the past eight years showing classical music's charm to Chinese audiences through master classes, open rehearsals and free concerts. He's now busy with CNSO's second Sound of China New Year Concert, which will ring in 2012 as the city's first major classical music event of the year. "My history with the CNSO goes back a long way," the 55-year-old, who has led the orchestra since 2004, says.

"Although classical music caters to a minority taste, the longer I stay in the position, the more I feel the need to introduce the music genre to the Chinese public."