The view of Potala Palace in Lhasa city, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. Photo: IC

 
On Wednesday, a concert of Luo Nianyi's musical works was held at the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in ­Beijing to commemorate the late musician Luo Nianyi, who had made tremendous contributions to the development of ­Tibetan music over 50 years. 

Themed "Beautiful Xizang, Lovely Hometown," the concert also marked the 72nd anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Xizang, and the opening of the China Xizang Development ­Forum in 2023. The concert will also be held during the Fifth China Tibet Tourism and Culture Expo on June 16-18 in ­Lhasa, capital of Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

"It was such an honor to have this concert held at the highest music academy in China. I was deeply touched by the strong support from China's national and Tibetan regional cultural departments, the Central Conservatory of ­Music and all the performers," Luo Xuelai, Luo Nianyi's son, told the Global Times. 

"The concert showed the true feelings of my father and other veterans who took root in, constructed and devoted themselves to Xizang," said Luo Xuelai. 

"My father used his musical works to demonstrate the all-round development of Xizang under the leadership of the Communist Party of China." 

Luo Nianyi, who was born in 1932, and died in January 2023, was a renowned composer in Xizang. He joined the army in 1949 as a soldier in the 18th Army of the People's Liberation Army that fulfilled the mission of peaceful liberation in Xizang in 1951. After that, he had worked in Xizang for 50 years as a member and then the conductor of the Xizang Regional Military Command Song and Dance Ensemble, the honorary chairman of Xizang Musicians Association, and a council member of the China Association for the Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture.

The musician made great contributions to the development of Tibetan music and culture. The younger Luo said that all the musical works his father wrote were themed on ethnic unity, China's unification, and Xizang's economic development and social progress under the leadership of the CPC. In composing his songs and symphonies, he combined traditional Tibetan music, such as the tone of folk songs in the Nyingchi Autonomous Prefecture, which greatly refined Xizang folk songs. 

"He was like a mountain of Tibetan folk music, always standing there," said Luo Xuelei. 

The concert presented selected masterpieces composed by the late musician, including "Ballad of Washing Clothes," "Unforgettable Snowy Mountains," "Spring in Lhasa" among others. They were performed as solos, duets, choruses and symphonies by many renowned musicians from Xizang and Beijing accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of CCOM and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Song and Dance Troupe of the Xizang Autonomous Region. 

According to Luo Xuelei, this concert was highlighted by a joint children's chorus - a first time collaboration between the Xizang Qomolangma Children's Chorus and the Sunshine Choir of Beijing Haidian District Minzu Primary School in Beijing.