Chuck Daellenbach

Chen Xiaochun

654789759@qq.com

Canadian Brass performed “The Horn of the Snow Country” on Thursday night at the Shenzhen Concert Hall. The ensemble gave an interview with the Shenzhen Daily and other media Thursday afternoon.

“We are very honored to be part of the Belt and Road music festival here. We played in Guangzhou 40 years ago. This festival was not yet in existence at that time. We are playing music that we think the Chinese audience will love,” said Chuck Daellenbach, one of the founders of Canadian Brass.

Daellenbach presented a newly released album named “Great Wall of China” which includes very traditional and well-known Chinese songs like “Lift Your Veil,” “Purple Bamboo Melody,” “The Moon Represents My Heart,” “Little Swallow,” “Nan Ni Wan,” “Gongxi Gongxi Ni (Congratulations)” and “Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower).”

“We are going to include a couple of our Chinese hits in the performance tonight. We made a CD called the ‘Great Wall’ and we are going to play the most famous Chinese folk songs that were introduced to us. They are ‘Mo Li Hua’ and ‘Purple Bamboo,’ and our trombonist gets a very stylistic Chinese sound. It’s amazing,” said Daellenbach.

Daellenbach joined a significant international visit in 1977 when they were sent to China as a cultural exchange. The ensemble was chosen and sent on this cultural mission by then-Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

“Forty years ago we had the opportunity to see the new China at the very beginning. Back then, the roads were jammed with bicycles, and horns were honking as it was very difficult for cars to move through. There was no advertising. Now it just turns around, you have lights everywhere and beautiful buildings and people. The whole system of transportation is changing. It’s just remarkable to see how much has changed,” said Daellenbach.

When asked about his opinion on the music festival, Daellenbach said that they were overwhelmed with the fact that a festival of this nature could have begun so recently and already become so impressive internationally. “It already has gained great acclaim around the world.”

Trombonist Achilles Liarmakopoulos, who joined the ensemble in 2011, said: “We all like music from all over the world and we particularly like Chinese music because it’s so different.”