Young US and Chinese musicians are embarking on their own journey across cultures through music, collaborating to build connections that go beyond language and borders.

Musicians from Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, or NYOUSA, the NYO Jazz ensemble, and Chinese pianist Zhang Sencheng performed at the Youth Dialogue for the Future concert held at the Chinese Consulate General in New York on Wednesday.

"People-to-people friendship between China and the US is taking on diverse new forms. Soon, the young musicians of the NYO Jazz will travel to China, and a group of top young Chinese artists will also come to New York," Chen Li, China's consul general in New York, said.

Among the performers was Zhang Sencheng, a 2010-born scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, who has performed twice at Carnegie Hall. He played several pieces at the consulate, bringing elements of Chinese musical expression to an international audience.

"I hope more audiences could hear the Chinese perspective on music and the way we express it, through the blend of Eastern and Western musical elements," he said.

"I am very happy and proud of him because he is very mature even though he is very young," Lukas Barwinski-Brown, CEO of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, told China Daily.

For Carnegie Hall, these exchanges are part of a broader effort to bring young musicians together across cultures. Beyond bringing Eastern musical perspectives to Western audiences, Carnegie Hall has created opportunities for some of the most talented young musicians in the US to receive training, perform internationally and engage with artists and audiences around the world.

In 2025, the NYO-USA embarked on a six-city tour of Asia, performing in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. During their time in China, the young musicians participated in exchanges with their peers at the Beijing Performing Arts Centre, connecting with their Chinese counterparts through workshops and musical collaboration.

The NYO Jazz ensemble will soon return to China in August, visiting Shanghai and Beijing for the ensemble's second trip to the country.

Anna Abondolo, a 25-year-old bassist at NYO Jazz, told China Daily the upcoming journey represents an opportunity to discover new musical perspectives and build friendships with Chinese musicians.

"I am just very curious in terms of hearing music and like meeting other jazz musicians," she said. "Music is a very universal language. We can all learn from each other, like what people are listening to, how people are playing."

The impact of these exchanges extends beyond the musicians themselves. Mary Anne Huntsman, a Carnegie Hall trustee, told China Daily that international tours and performances in both China and the US create opportunities for young people from the two countries to share and understand each other's cultures.

"Music brings people together more than anything," she said.

Consul General Chen said the growing interest among young US people in Chinese art and culture reflects the importance of cultural exchange.

"We can see a growing trend of young Americans becoming interested in Chinese art and culture. Especially with performances selling out at New York's most prestigious venues, such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, we can see that American audiences are learning more about China through its culture," Chen told China Daily.