Brass players from the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra give an improvisational performance on an international flight on Jan 31. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Five brass players from the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO) gave an improvisational performance on a flight from Shanghai to Madrid, Spain on Jan 31, receiving a warm response from international passengers.

Flight IB6888 of Iberia Airlines, after a 13-hour journey, was preparing to descend when five young Chinese people stood up and retrieved brass instruments from their carry-on luggage. The melody of Just a closer walk, a traditional gospel song, began emanating from their instruments, filling the cabin with an air of festivity and joy.

After talking with the flight crew, they walked down the aisle and mingled with passengers, who were amazed by the unexpected musical performance and captured the moment with their phones and cameras. After the performance, the players extended their best wishes to the people on board in Chinese and English.

These HPO brass players were on their way to perform abroad as part of the 2018 "Happy Chinese New Year" event. Just a closer walk is one of the most popular performances by the brass quintet and they have performed it at home and abroad many times.

The "Happy Chinese New Year" event, initiated by the Ministry of Culture, is an annual cultural activity that aims to spread the Chinese New Year festivities abroad during the Chinese Spring Festival season. According to Cai Xiaochun, vice director of Zhejiang's culture department, Zhejiang will send 16 art troupes of roughly 350 performers to 17 countries this year.

Brass players march down the aisle on an international flight from Shanghai to Madrid, Spain on Jan 31. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]