In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the International Music Council, 14 year old Rachael Xu, a long-standing Global Friend of the International Music Council (IMC), performed with AOTANGO Duo (featuring world champion accordionist Grayson Masefield and Auckland Philharmonia concertmaster Andrew Beer), in Chongqing China concert in support of the IMC’s Five Music Rights.

The concert on January 18th, 2025, was attended by renowned critic Sam Su (Su Li Hua), who shared his insights in the excerpts below.

“In the first half, Xu Nuo (Rachael Xu) performed … with great professionalism. Xu Nuo’s performance was technically superb and musically natural, and each piece was played with great completeness.

I have been following Xu Nuo for many years, not only because of her musical talent and wonderful performance, but also because of how she lets music accompany her healthy and happy growth, and how she uses music to empower her regular studies.  Xu Nuo won the second place in the U15 pop category at the 49th Italian Castelfidardo International Accordion Competition (Premio Internazionale “Citta di Castelfidardo” per solisti e comlessi di fisarmonica) held by the Italian Ministry of Culture, which ended in September 2024.

In this concert, as a “Global Partner” of the UNESCO International Music Council, she spoke for the “Five Music Rights” with the support of two top artists.“

The second half was totally unexpected,… a duet between Xu Nuo’s tutor, New Zealand’s world-renowned accordionist Grayson Masefield, and New Zealand Philharmonic Orchestra’s principal Andrew Beer.

The duet of accordion and violin is a rare duet because the timbre and volume of the two instruments are very different. To blend them well, it is not only difficult to write the music (whether original or adapted), but also difficult to achieve a good sound combination in the performance.

However, the two performers proved that the violin and accordion can be the perfect combination with their free and enjoyable performance. They played their arrangements of famous songs. Half of the wonderful performance was due to their arrangement.  Their pronunciation, superb playing skills, and the music that came to their faces were completely a performance that turned stones into gold. After the first song was played, the warm applause and cheers from the audience activated their inspiration and passion for performance, and now more wonderful performances followed.

This is one of the few wonderful concerts I have attended in Chongqing. It is very rare to hear such a wonderful concert if you go there just for the fame of the performers. The surprise brought by this concert is no less than winning the lottery for me.

My evaluation of the performance of violinist Andrew Beer and accordionist Grayson Masefield is that their performance technique is superb without any showmanship, their music style is pure, and their music appeal fills the ears and hearts of every audience! In the face of such a wonderful performance, the audience does not need to know what piece is being played, just enjoy the natural eruption of music.

For me, another surprise was that violinist Andrew Beer was going to Singapore to be the principal of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in a few days… The concert that night had a rich repertoire with a wide range of styles.  Andrew Beer’s performance (as guest concertmaster) was so clear and clean, with perfect pitch, and the granularity of each note in the legato was extremely clear, and the soft playing was so penetrating. I was completely stunned at the time!

This was the second performance of AOTANGO Duo in China after performing last year at the Shanghai Accordion Arts Festival. The also had a concert in Chendgu at the Gade Chengdu Community Concert Hall prior to their performance in Chongqing.

Sam Su (Su Li Hua) is a classical music promoter and consultant with extensive experience in concert programming and music industry management.

He worked as a promoter for PolyGram Music and Universal Music Group in China, introducing artists such as Andrea Bocelli and Secret Garden to the market. He has held roles including Deputy General Manager of Beijing Concert Hall and has been a concert programming consultant for the National Center for the Performing Arts and Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing.

He is a columnist for First Class Magazine, a guest lecturer at the China National Center for the Performing Arts, and a lecturer at Music Club of National Center for the Performing Arts Beijing. He has served as the planning director of the China-Singapore International Music Competition and as a special consultant for the Hong Kong International Online Music Academy. Since 2000, he has been the chief representative of Channel Classics in China and has successfully planned and published over 20 albums.

Click here for the full review.