A performance by a Chinese symphony orchestra combining the country’s traditional music with Western classics has wowed Sheffield crowds during a tour of Britain.

The Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, which hails from a modern metropolis in southern China was led by conductor Daye Lin with Tan Dun at the helm.

When the final strings had been played the crowd erupted in applause as the musicians bowed with smiles on their faces.

Audience member Frank Gadwe, 25, who regularly attends these sorts of events said that the sound of the group was what really stuck out to him.

He said: “They managed to express their own culture, stemming from the global south through western instruments, which I found really intriguing.”

Sheffield City Hall was one of eight venues to host the orchestra, on their UK debut tour.  

Mr Lin, the principal conductor, was under the tutelage off Professor Xu Xin in Beijing and studied conducting under Professor Christian Ehwald in Berlin.

Commenting on the UK tour beforehand, he said: “We are very excited because we are making history again. We will display the versatile sounds of the orchestra to the audiences in the UK with the music we selected.

“More importantly, we want to show how exciting China’s classical music scene is with our musicians, who are young, creative and full of energy.”

The group was founded in 1982, during the time in which Shenzhen went through transformation from a fishing village to a global tech-centre and home to some of the biggest companies in the world.

The programme included orchestral pieces by Chausson and Capriccioso, and film scores with excerpts from the popular martial-arts movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which won four BAFTAs on its debut in 2001.

Mr Lin said: “The film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and its score are quite popular with audiences around the world. We want to introduce audiences in the UK to this fantasy world of martial arts through Tan’s music, which is captivating.”

Tan Dun, who composed the original film score is an honorary conductor of the orchestra and well-known in the industry as a leading figure of contemporary classical music.

The Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra is expected to wrap up its UK tour by 22 March in Croydon.