The Na­tion­al Steel Sym­pho­ny Or­ches­tra (NSSO) left last week for ap­pear­ances at the Ninth Chi­na In­ter­na­tion­al Folk Art Fes­ti­val that be­gan on Sep­tem­ber 14 in Yichang, Hubei Province, Chi­na.

Over 300 artistes rep­re­sent­ing 13 coun­tries are ex­pect­ed to at­tend this year's fes­ti­val, with the theme: De­vel­op­ing Folk Arts, Pro­mot­ing Friend­ship And Peace.

The 21-mem­ber NSSO, led by mu­sic di­rec­tor/con­duc­tor Jes­sel Mur­ray, ap­peared at the fes­ti­val's open­ing cer­e­mo­ny, as well as oth­er pro­grammes dur­ing the sev­en days of the event. So far, the re­sponse to the NSSO has been over­whelm­ing, as it is the first time that many have seen the steel­band.

As these pho­tos by Maria Nunes show, the sound of steel was tru­ly cap­ti­vat­ing to the Chi­nese peo­ple who at­tend­ed the events.