Musicians from the China National Traditional Orchestra dropped in on Yu Ying Public Charter School in Washington, DC on Thursday morning and played for the students.

The visit was just one stop on the orchestra's visit to the nation's capital. The orchestra is also scheduled to give a concert at the Kennedy Center on Friday evening, when 73 students, aged 9 to 11, will join the orchestra to sing the Chinese song Hong Yan.

During the performance at the Yu Ying Charter School, musicians gave a demonstration on four traditional Chinese musical instruments: the flute, pipa, erhu and guzheng.

Orchestra member Winston Wang said that although this was the orchestra's fourth time performing in Washington, it was their first time performing for local primary school students.

"Our goal is to introduce Chinese traditional music to children in the West," he said. "And we reached out to Yu Ying because it is one of the few primary schools that provide students with immersion Chinese language learning."

Students at Yu Ying start learning Chinese in the third grade.

On Thursday, students took the stage and sang the Chinese song Hong Yan, with the orchestra musicians accompanying. The students had practiced the song for four weeks.

"They take Chinese lessons on a very regular basis, so it is not at all difficult for them to understand the lyrics," a teacher explained.

The Yu Ying is the school first lady Michelle Obama visited to get tips before her trip to China in March 2013.

The orchestra's concert at the Kennedy Center on Friday night is entitled Rediscover Chinese Music.

zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 12/11/2015 page2)