The GSO commissioned contemporary composer Fang Dongqing for a new orchestral work, Bay Area Fantasy, which receives its world premiere on this occasion, referencing important strategies and key elements from the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, expounding the development potential of the region. The symphonic tone poem A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains is closely related to the eponymous masterpiece by painter Wang Ximeng. Its focus, however, is not on a physical landscape but rather the internal world of men in the face of nature and society, and how the external world affects the human spirit. The work is a veritable concerto featuring such solo instruments as the sheng, pipa, erhu, piano, bamboo flute and soprano, encapsulating Chinese traditions and esthetics as well as praising the all-embracing nature of Chinese benevolence.
