Thursday marked International Women's Day, and the sweet melodies resonating from Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall featured some of China best female classical artists. From composer to conductor, the show allowed talented women of all ages to shine. 

The concert opened with "Women's Demeanor March", a piece composed by Yan Xiao'ou for the 1995 World Conference on Women. The 50-member strong Beijing Symphony Orchestra went under the baton of Zheng Xiaoying. She is China’s first female world-class conductor, and is well-known for her passionate and delicate style.

The 89-year old hopes her music would bring more strength to women. "Welcome to today's Women's Day Concert. Here, I wish all my sisters good health, success and happiness! But I really hope that women should not always be hailed as 'pretty', because we are not the world's decoration, but make up half the world! We should be as powerful and capable as men!" conductor Zheng Xiaoying said. 

One of the highlights from the evening was the performance of celebrated Chinese lute player Zhang Hongyan. Her use of the quintessentially Chinese instrument was perfectly in harmony with the western style orchestra. Zhang has worked with conductor Zheng from a young age. And this time, she deliberately picked a completely new piece, titled "Clouds and Flowers".

"The music I played tonight is on theme with one of Li Bai's poems. It describes the feminine charm. For this piece, conductor Zheng and I cooperated for the first time. She gave all out for it. I have played under Ms. Zheng's baton for hundreds of times. It's a wonder achieved by her life-long career. I enjoy performing with her. She has guided the growth of generations of musicians in China," Zhang Hongyan said. 

The evening was made more memorable with the voice of of renowned coloratura soprano Dilber Yunus. A Kashgar native from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the 60-year-old has achieved success internationally and she has been with the Finnish National Opera since 1988. An array of masterpieces, such as "A Glass of Beautiful Wine", were presented with her strong personal charisma.