The 2023 China-Spain Year of Culture and Tourism kicked off on March 27 with a concert at Spain’s National Auditorium of Music in Madrid.

The inauguration concert was jointly presented by China National Traditional Orchestra, Jingju Theater Company of Beijing, and the Orchestra and the Flamenco Band of the Community of Madrid.

Highlights from the concert included I Love You China sung by a Spanish soprano, Spanish Bullfighter March performed with sheng (a Chinese reed wind instrument consisting of bamboo pipes) and accompanied by an invigorating Flamenco dance, and Rose Tango performed by famed Chinese pipa (a four-stringed plucked instrument) artist Zhao Cong and the Spanish orchestra.