During the Chinese New Year season, two champion young accordionists—Rachael Xu (许诺) from China and Luca Bello from Italy, joined forces for a three-concert tour titled A Rendezvous of Virtuoso and Classical, presented in Chengdu and Chongqing in early February 2026.

Both artists are recent winners of the prestigious 50th International Castelfidardo Accordion Competition. Luca Bello took top honours in the top classical Premio (Concert Artist) category, ex aequo with Emanuele Viti, while Rachael Xu claimed first prize in the Senior Virtuoso category. This tour marked their first collaboration following their competition successes and aimed to showcase the accordion’s expressive power across both classical and popular music traditions.

The concert series opened on February 4th at Huaai School Auditorium in Chengdu, followed by an intimate chamber music performance on February 5th at Qing’an Gathering by Tiexiangsi Water Street, and concluded on February 7th at the Chongqing World Financial Centre. Each performance drew enthusiastic audiences of music lovers, students, and professionals.

Reflecting on the tour, Rachael Xu, an appointed Five Music Rights Champion of the International Music Council, a partner of UNESCO shared: “Collaborating with a musician as talented as Luca to explore the limitless possibilities of the accordion has been a wonderful experience. We hope our music brings blessings and joy for the New Year.” Her role advocates for the universal right to create, perform, and access music – values reflected in this cross-cultural collaboration with Luca Bello.

Luca Bello added: “The audiences in China were incredibly warm. Working with Rachael showed me that, despite our different musical styles, the accordion’s power to convey emotion is universal. This was a truly memorable musical dialogue.”