NEW YORK, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- To ring in the Year of the Dog, the Fourth Annual Chinese New Year Spectacular concert was held at Carnegie Hall here Saturday, featuring a young Chinese pianist's special solo performance using a piano to imitate a variety of traditional Chinese musical instruments.

The concert was opened by Tian Jiaxin, a rising Chinese pianist born into a musical family in Beijing. Having earned praise for her solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall back in 2013, Tian returned to the musical hall for the fifth time.

This time she included two pieces of traditional Chinese music in her performance, i.e. Liuyang River -- a very famous Chinese song in praise of Chairman Mao Zedong's great contribution to China -- and the Music at Sunset, better known as Spring Blossoms on the Moonlit River, a classical piece rooted in Chinese poetic culture.

"I tried to use the piano to imitate a variety of traditional Chinese musical instruments, such as Pipa, Guqin, drum, and traditional Chinese bamboo flute," Tian told Xinhua after the show, "I hope the sound will give the audience really amazing imagination."

Tian displayed such innovative performing skills after she presented renowned classical pieces of Mozart and Beethoven in the first half of the concert.

"I try to present one or two Chinese pieces whenever I perform, because I really hope the audience from all over the world can listen to my performance and thus know more about the Chinese culture and our history," said Tian, adding that she is ready to bring more different Chinese stories in upcoming concerts in her own way.

Other performers at the concert included British pianist Simon Mulligan, Chinese opera tenor Dr. William Weimin Cai, American violinist Deni Bonet and former Mayor of New York City, David Dinkins.

As his second time addressing at the Chinese New Year Spectacular, Dinkins said the evening was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the variety of cultures on the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The annual Spectacular has been co-produced by Premier Event Management Inc. and Harvard Wealth Strategy & Management, two U.S. organizations sharing the common goal of bridging the cultural gap between China and the United States.

"This is the strongest assemblage of talent we have ever had in the history of the Spectacular series. We're honored to be able to create this tradition, showcasing diverse talent to our multi-cultural audience," said Lily Li, one of the co-producers.