The Spring Festival of World Music, which began last Thursday, continued Friday with a free concert of Chinese and Bulgarian music. Featuring ensembles from UCLA's ethnomusicology department, the concert contrasted two cultural domains that could not be any more different from each other.

The Music of China ensemble, led by instructor Chi Li, began with two pieces for large, 90-piece Chinese orchestra, which, like a Western orchestra, has bowed strings, plucked strings, winds and percussion. Unlike a symphony orchestra, this music's emphasis was on melody, not rhythm or harmony, and most everyone played in unison. All the instruments were traditional Chinese instruments, such as the pipa (a Chinese lute), erhu (a Chinese violin), and xiao (a Chinese flute).

The music often came from ancient musical manuscripts and portrayed mostly internal emotion, especially with the solo performances. Each seemed to tell a very personal tale of loneliness and sorrow. In fact, Mike Gubman's solo on a qin, (an ancient string instrument) dated from 1864, was accompanied by several incense sticks burning on stage, a sign of repentance and internal purification.

These internal struggles were also supplemented with many playful pieces, often involving dances. The lion and fan dances showcased the colorful Chinese traditional costumes as well as captivating the audience with its choreography. In a departure from Chinese melodies, these dance pieces were accompanied by percussion. One standout piece was the duet of dizis (bamboo flutes), where Tiffany Chen and Michael Sheridan played what sounded like Chinese counterpoint. The sound of the piece titled "Talking Back," was akin to two birds arguing with each other and trying to out-sing the other party. The music's humor, however, did not keep the audience from being cordial and quiet.

Adelaine Foo's Chinese opera theatrics ended the concert with beautiful singing and stage acting as she fed imaginary poultry and livestock. As her performance emphasized, the Chinese music was about telling stories of internal struggle with lilting melodies.

The Balkan ensemble, led by Ivan and Tzvetanka Varimezova, took a 180-degree turn from Chinese music. Instead of doing ancient pieces, the ensemble focused on a style known as Bulgarian neotraditional, which features traditional Bulgarian folk tunes incorporated into mostly modern instruments and modern harmonies. Unlike the Chinese ensemble, the group utilized rhythmic drive and provocative harmonies, but also had fast, catchy melodies. The opening band consisted of a bass guitar, an electric guitar, two saxophones, two accordions, two clarinets, a tupan (Bulgarian bass drum) and a gaida (a Bulgarian bagpipe). After watching the band set up, audience members immediately reacted with cries of "Let's Rock!"

Indeed, they did – in a type of music that seemed to combine Celtic rhythms and melodic virtuosity with Middle Eastern melismas, trills and ornamentations. If that description makes no sense, it's because the music itself was hard to pin down, owing to Bulgaria's history both as a part of Europe and the former Turkish empire. Solo turns seemed to resemble jazz-like improvisations and the rhythm was so danceable that the final number contained an invitation for the audience members to come onstage and do just that.

The women's choir, conducted by Tzvetanka Varimezova, floated beautifully on top of exquisite chords and a wonderful tone. Occasional yelps and calls dotted the music, adding flavor. The expert vocal glissandos (sliding down a note) elicited laughs from the audience and demanded several short encores.

If the audience stayed quiet and clapped politely for the Chinese ensemble, they went crazy for the Bulgarians, tearing the roof down with deafening whistling and standing ovations. This was not the internal struggle of an opera aria but the raucous fun of a rock concert.

The mismatching of China and Bulgaria created a concert that had the best of both worlds. While the two musical cultures seemed to have very little in common, they shared the goal of exporting the listener from UCLA to wherever the music would take them. Both groups succeeded and anticipated the possibility for more musical travels as the world music festival continues May 30 to June 2 with the music of Africa, Asia, and South America.