(CNSPHOTO)

Lu Siqing, a renowned Chinese violinist, was chosen as ambassador for the annual May Music Festival at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing.

Lu, 43, was born in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. He began to play the violin at the age of 4 and was admitted by the Central Conservatory of Music at the age of 8, becoming the youngest student there. Lu won the gold medal at the 34th Paganini Competition, one of the most important violin competitions worldwide, when he was 17. Lu's version of Butterfly Lovers is widely acknowledged the best one in the world.

The NCPA will usher in the new May Music Festival from May 9 to 26. Besides 15 concerts staged by famous music groups and masters, the festival will go to communities, schools, museums and other venues for the first time, hoping to benefit common people and increase the public welfare.