KEY POINTS:
Bouquets of flowers were thrown on the stage by the audience on Wednesday night when the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra performed at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing (above).
Haley Maxwell performed the karanga to launch the programme, conducted by music director Pietari Inkinen. The orchestra played the world premiere of John Psathas' Olympiad XXVIII, a suite based on the music he composed for the opening ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympics, along with the Elgar Cello Concerto. The cello soloist for the evening, Li Wei, was chosen to celebrate the relationship between China and New Zealand.
On Thursday night, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, the NZSO performed Gareth Farr's Te Papa featuring Deborah Wai Kapohe as soprano soloist and tenor Simon O'Neill.
