Living in New York City, we are really fortunate to able to see so many different cultural practices and traditions and diversity at large.

Entering Carnegie Hall for my first time, I was thrilled to hear music specifically related to my culture. I was able to recount my personal experience from hearing the same types of music such as the gongs used in the fourth performance, Parade for Six Peking Opera Gongs, because my grandmother use to do Chinese Operas. However, the difference with this Opera performance with the traditional Chinese Opera is the actual acting out, the singing, and traditional instruments used, which is extremely hard to follow and understand.

This was my first reading that I have ever been to and I have to admit I was extremely tired before the reading even began. Joseph O'Connor's presentation captured my undivided attention naturally through his articulation and natural speech. What he did to hold on to our attention was to throw in a couple of jokes such as the non-alcoholic mini bar before the session began and his coke that he drank was stronger than the alcohol. He was a funny man.

Created thousands of year ago, Chinese calligraphy has been viewed as the art of fine handwriting. Unlike the western calligraphy, ink blots and some dissimilarties in Chinese calligraphy are natural and many times show meaning and expression of the writer.