Photo: Courtesy of the China National Traditional Orchestra

  
The China National Traditional Orchestra will stage a new concert at the Beijing Concert Hall on September 4 and then tour to Changsha and Huaihua in South China's Hunan Province on September 13 and 15 respectively. 

Taking a rice seed that changes the world as its theme, the concert aims to pay tribute to late Chinese scientist Yuan Longping, known as the "father of hybrid rice." Yuan cultivated the world's first high-yielding hybrid rice strain in 1973, which was later grown on a large scale in China and other countries to substantially raise output.

The 60-minute long One Seed Changes the World concert includes seven original music pieces with the unique local characteristics of Huaihua, including "Scent of Rice Blossoms," "Southern Snow Peak," "Beyond the Mountain is the Sea" and "Beautiful Village." 

Yuan, also a music lover, once said, "Besides scientific research, music is my favorite." 

He believed that the violin could produce "a sound that can touch the depths of the soul," and that music was a source of warmth that accompanied him all his life.