Folk Songs Find New Voices, Charity Mirrors a True Heart

——The Closing Concert of the Sichuan Arts Fund 2026 Grant Project String Quartet “O Ya Li Le” and the Concert of Zheng Renqing’s Award-Winning and Project Vocal Works Held with Great Success

By Zhang Jingjing, Reporter Wu Xiaojun

On the evening of October 30, the “Closing Concert of the Sichuan Arts Fund 2026 Grant Project String Quartet ‘O Ya Li Le’ and Concert of Zheng Renqing’s Award-Winning and Project Vocal Works” was successfully held at the Nie Er Concert Hall of the Wuhou Campus, Sichuan Conservatory of Music.

The concert was a public-welfare performance, co-hosted by the China Association for Research on Popular Literature and Art and the School of Aesthetic Education of Sichuan Conservatory of Music, and supported by the Scientific Research Office and the Academic Affairs Office of Sichuan Conservatory of Music. Leaders, experts, guests, students and music lovers from all walks of life attended; the hall was filled to capacity.

It is learned that this concert grew out of the public-welfare closing performance of the string quartet “O Ya Li Le”, composed by Zheng Renqing, associate professor at Sichuan Conservatory of Music, a 2026 annual grant project of the Sichuan Arts Fund. The program was paired with 10 selections from some of Zheng Renqing’s award-winning vocal works and from the creation-grant project of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles — the symphonic vocal cycle “Up and Down the Min River” — to form a complete concert. On the evening of August 29 this year, “La La Land — Classic Film and Television Works and the Closing Concert of the Sichuan Arts Fund 2026 Grant Project String Quartet ‘O Ya Li Le’” was staged at the Chengdu Music Hall: at once an audiovisual feast of classic Chinese music and the first closing performance of the Sichuan Arts Fund 2026 string quartet “O Ya Li Le”. More than 20 Chinese and overseas media platforms, including People’s Daily, Global Weekly, Hong Kong Morning Post, Cover News, New York Daily News and The Guardian (UK), published special reports.

All the works performed at the concert were composed by Zheng Renqing. Zheng Renqing is an associate professor at Sichuan Conservatory of Music, a review expert of the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center under the Ministry of Education, a member of the Chinese Musicians Association, a director of the China Association for Research on Popular Literature and Art, vice president of the Sichuan Association for Research on Popular Literature and Art, and a director of the 8th Sichuan Musicians Association. He has won more than 30 national- and provincial-level awards in literature and art, including 3 awards from state ministries and commissions and 1 provincial government arts award; he has received national gold and silver awards presented by the National Radio and Television Administration, the Chinese Musicians Association and the Chinese Society of Music Literature, as well as the Sichuan “Five-One Project” Award for Spiritual Civilization Development. His works were performed at the opening concert of the Chinese Golden Bell Music Award, have been broadcast many times on China Central Television and China National Radio, and many of his songs have become widely popular. He was invited to the “Famous Sichuan Lyricists and Composers Visit the Grassroots” events and has served repeatedly as music director of provincial-level artistic performances and chief judge of national art competitions.

For this concert, the young conductor Ye Wenbo, holder of a master’s degree in conducting, served as one of the principal members in charge of the project as well as artistic director and executive coordinator. Under the full-course guidance of Zheng Renqing, Qian Lin, Fu Ruiqi, Sun Xinyu and Ma You performed with wholehearted devotion. The opening piece was the string quartet “O Ya Li Le” of the Sichuan Arts Fund 2026 annual grant project. The musical material of the work comes from two aboriginal folk songs of the Ersu Tibetan people in Shimian County, Sichuan Province — “O Ya Li Le” means “Let’s dance!” — and this splendid performance opened the program to warm applause from the audience.

(Performed by Qian Lin, Fu Ruiqi, Sun Xinyu and Ma You)

One composer wrote after listening: taking the Ersu Tibetan folk song “O Ya Li Le” and the guozhuang (Tibetan circle dance) song “Saliangduoman” of Xieluo Tibetan Township in Shimian County, the composer wove them into the string quartet of the same name. The writing is consummately skilled — like wind crossing remote mountain folds, its charm gliding like a flowing spring, leaving the listener in far-off, contemplative reverie.

Professor Huang Xu of the Composition Department of Sichuan Conservatory of Music remarked: “‘O Ya Li Le’ is a piece of chamber music rooted in the soil of local ethnic minority music. It preserves the rustic, vivid cultural character of Ersu Tibetan folk music while raising it to an artistic level through professional composition, letting aboriginal folk melodies long hidden deep in the mountains step onto the professional stage in the form of a string quartet. At present, chamber works created from Ersu Tibetan folk material are still rare in China; this is an artistic practice well worth encouraging.”

When the piece ended, Qi Zhifang, an inheritor of Ersu Tibetan folk songs from Shimian County, came on stage and sang the aboriginal folk song “O Ya Li Le”, letting the audience savor the song’s original, unadulterated charm, and received a warm welcome.

(Qi Zhifang sings “O Ya Li Le”; at right is host Wang Meiqi)

The second part presented 10 selections from Zheng Renqing’s award-winning vocal works and from the creation-grant project of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the symphonic vocal cycle “Up and Down the Min River”, with Kong Lei serving as artistic director.

I. The award-winning vocal works performed included:

1. “The West Is My Homeland”: lyrics by Yu Ping, sung by Li Xiang.

(Li Xiang sings “The West Is My Homeland”)

2. “Chinese Painting”: lyrics by Wang Deqing, solo by Song Yixuan with a backing chorus from Professor Tan Xuesheng’s teaching class.

(Song Yixuan’s solo and the backing chorus of Professor Tan Xuesheng’s teaching class in “Chinese Painting”)

3. “Deep in the Mountains Is My Home”: lyrics by Yang Bo, sung by Li Xiang.

4. “Life Has No Rehearsal”: lyrics by Wu Fei, sung by Hou Lei.

(Hou Lei sings “Life Has No Rehearsal”)

5. “The Most Beautiful Smile”: lyrics by Wang Chijiu, performed by Professor Deng Min’s teaching class.

(Professor Deng Min’s teaching class performs “The Most Beautiful Smile”)

II. Selections from the symphonic vocal cycle “Up and Down the Min River”, a 2017 and 2018 creation-grant project of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles — all with lyrics by the renowned lyricist Wang Chijiu — include:

1. “Clear Stream of Dujiang”: sung by Huang Liping.

(Huang Liping sings “Clear Stream of Dujiang”)

2. “Friend of Su Dongpo”: sung by Lu Xiaoying (instructor: Shi Qian).

(Lu Xiaoying sings “Friend of Su Dongpo”)

“Love Song of the Qingyi River”: antiphonal duet and vocal ensemble by Li Anqi and Luo Liangjiang, with a small chorus from Professor Tan Xuesheng’s teaching class.

(Antiphonal duet and vocal ensemble by Li Anqi and Luo Liangjiang, with the teaching class of Professor Tan Xuesheng

in a small chorus of “Love Song of the Qingyi River”)

4. “The Chuan River Flows to the Sea” (also an award-winning work): sung by Li Haoqian.

(Li Haoqian sings “The Chuan River Flows to the Sea”)

III. “Don’t Let Mother Grow Old”, the theme song of Li Haoqian’s original song album of the same name, performed by Li Haoqian.

This was a concert rich in achievements and meaning, with diverse subjects and varied performing forms and vocal groupings. Instrumental music and song were equally bewitching; the audience became immersed in piece after piece and were deeply moved. Climax followed climax, and the applause was warm.

In the end, Associate Professor Zheng Renqing came on stage to thank the host and supporting organizations, the leaders, mentors, experts and performing teams, and the concert drew to a successful close.

(Zheng Renqing expresses his thanks)

After the concert, the audience lingered, unwilling to leave, and came up to the stage to chat with the performers and pose for photos.

(Leaders, guests and cast and crew in a group photo)

More news: “La La Land — Classic Film and Television Works and the Closing Concert of the Sichuan Arts Fund 2026 Grant Project String Quartet ‘O Ya Li Le’” was held on the evening of October 31, 2026 at the Chamber Music Hall of the Chengdu Music Hall. It was the third closing performance of the string quartet “O Ya Li Le” and was warmly welcomed by the audience on site.