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London Philharmonic Orchestra are celebrating Lunar New Year with a ear-jangling performance of Chinese composer Tan Dun’s ‘Buddha Passion’. Indigenous singers, a double choir and traditional instruments will accompany the orchestra’s rendition of the piece which draws on ancient Chinese and Sanskrit texts to illustrate lessons taught by the Buddha. Dun was inspired to write the work after visiting the Mogao Caves, a vast network of cave temples on the edge of the Gobi desert which contains one of the largest displays of Buddhist art, artefacts and musical murals. He even commissioned an instrument maker to create an exact replica of one of the instruments depicted in one of the caves: the Xiqin (a bit like an erhu or a two-stringed bowed instrument). If you’re looking for an easy escape from the city, this is just the ticket.