BRUSSELS, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- A concert called "Chinese Memories" was held on Friday evening in the western Belgian city of Ghent to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

All musical pieces were composed by Belgian composer Johan Famaey but performed and sung in Chinese by Belgian artists. The elegant music blending Chinese and Western styles drew the audience into the poetic and dreamlike artistic conception of ancient Chinese poetry.

"This is how Chinese Memories should be understood: an ode to China," said Famaey, who had lived in east China's Qingdao City from 2005 to 2009.

"Chinese Memories is kind of a combination of what I find intriguing and the romantic era. Baroque music sounds very exotic to the Chinese people, so I had this idea of bringing things together," he said.

"The music is entirely original, but there are allusions to important composers of the past such as Bach, Schubert and Puccini. There are no cliches to represent the Chinese style, but rather traditional elements that give the music a unique feel," he explained.

The concert was led by renowned conductor Geert Baetens and featured Famaey himself who played the yangqin, a traditional Chinese musical instrument, backed by an orchestra and children's choir.