As Europe battles COVID-19, a group of Chinese and British artists held a cloud concert Friday evening to bring comfort to people at home, and raise money to support British doctors and nurses.

The Butterfly Concerto, played by Chinese violinist Chai Liang, captivated audiences of a cloud concert Friday. 

While gatherings of people are still not encouraged because of COVID-19 infection fears, Chai's orchestra hoped to bring comfort to overseas Chinese at this special time and help medical staff in this crisis. 

"At the beginning I thought I could use my pre-recorded concerts, but I thought it would be more meaningful if I did this live. And I learned that Changsha Symphony Orchestra has been working for a couple of weeks. They rehearsed with many of them wearing masks and allowing enough space between people, though some of course cannot perform with masks! So I feel pretty safe and decided to come to Changsha to work with them, " said Chai.

Friday's cloud concert is one of the first in a series of online events launched by Art Saves Us. People can pay 1 English pound to get access to this through the Zoom app. 

This series features a diverse mix of art, such as music, drama, ballet, storytelling and Chinese folk music. A number of renowned artists including famous violinist Andrew Bernardi and world-famous solo cellist Julian Lloyd Webber joined this initiative in the hopes of raising money to help British doctors and nurses. 

"I think music and the arts are very important things to people's life at any time. At times like this, they can perform a lot of comforts, and a lot of meaning to people's lives, because it's really important," said Webber.

Kai Lan, the founder of Art Saves Us, explained why they wanted to organize this event. "Initially we wanted to hold a live concert in London to support Wuhan. I went to the U.S. for two weeks for business. When I came back here, not only was the live concert impossible, but the center, and the focus have changed. So then we thought about an online concert, so the efforts are now focused on what's in front of us: NHS front-line doctors and nurses, who lack basic protection. So we want to raise money to do that from this particular concert." 

Art empowers people, but also leads us to think in-depth about our relationship with nature.

The cloud concert broadcasts a dance performance called the Dethroning of the Divine Beast, directed by Chinese artist Xu Rui. She created this dance performance from an adaptation of Chinese Mythology Classics of Mountains and Seas. It tells the story of seven divine beasts that are terrified to discover the losses of their magical powers as they are transported to the mundane world of modern city life.

Referring to the coronavirus outbreak, Xu said "I want everyone to realize that it's crucial that we take good care of our environment, and think about our long-term relationship with nature, and individuals should not only care for their own interest."

Art Saves Us has already raised more than 38,000 pounds for vital personal protection equipment to aid health workers at King's College Hospital in London. But beyond financial support, they believe art can connect, inspire and empower people in these tough times.