Trinidad
& Tobago, W.I.
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For the second time in as many years, the Trinidad and Tobago Chinese Steel Ensemble(TTCSE) teamed up with a group of musicians from Tianjin, China, to play together.
The first event was a reception that was hosted by the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Yang Youming, and his wife Geng Hailing at their residence in St. Clair, Port of Spain on the evening of Sunday May 29.
Trinidad and Tobago Chinese Steel Ensemble
with Tianjin’s Musicians
After practicing together a few times before the reception started, the bands thrilled the guests with their performance of the popular Chinese tunes “Tien Mi Mi” and “Along the River of Love.” The four Tianjin musicians played the traditional Chinese instruments—pipa (lute),
erhu (two-stringed fiddle),
yangqin (dulcimer) and guzheng (zither)—together with the sixteen members of the steelband.
The following Tuesday, the bands got together for a public performance to a select audience at the Central Bank Auditorium. Starting off the evening’s proceedings was the TTCSE with the national anthems of both countries. After being entertained by the Chinese musicians, the concert concluded with both bands playing the two tunes they had practiced together, much to the enjoyment of the audience.
The TTCSE looks forward to similar performances in future and anticipates the day when they could visit China to show the Chinese people their musical expertise on our native instruments.