On July 5 to 9, the 16th Chinese International Chorus Festival (CICF) was held in Wuhan, which was hosted by organizations such as Chinese Chorus Association, the Publicity Department of CPC Wuhan Committee, Wuhan Federation of Literary and Art Circles and organized by Wuhan Musicians Association, which was participated in by 82 excellent choruses from over 20 provinces and municipalities of China. The SCMU Chorus composed of the Bello Chamber Chorus of SCMU and Tianyue Chorus participated in two performances, namely a special concert and a chorus competition, whose works “Swan Goose”, “Sky” and “Graduation Season” were widely praised. The Bello Chamber Chorus won a gold prize for girls in the chorus festival.

The Chorus of SCMU in performance. Photo by Wu Juan

On the evening of July 6, a special concert of composers’ works was held, which was kicked off with a chorus performance of “Motto of Love” staged by the chorus of SCMU with the youth chorus of Wuhan Musicians Association and the chorus of Central China Normal University. In the Inner Mongolian folk song “Swan Goose” that followed, the resounding voice of girls seemed to take the audience to the vast expanse of grasslands. The unaccompanied chorus “Sky” expressed enthusiasm and yearning for a wonderful life, with a dreamlike and passionate melody and beautiful and lyrical lyrics. The song “Graduation Season” was a sincere and vivid expression of the reluctance to say goodbye to each other. The concert was concluded with an exciting and free song “A New World”, fully showing the lofty sentiments and aspirations of Chinese people in the new era.

The 16th Chinese International Chorus Festival is the first national chorus festival undertaken by Wuhan since the reform and opening-up policy of China was implemented. During the performance and competition, the chorus of SCMU showed the positive spirituality and professional performance of the students and the profound accumulation of SCMU in the aesthetic education and teaching, which had received warm applauds from the audience and great praises from the experts.

(Editor: Liu Hong  Source: College of Music and Dance)