Strive In the Music World
A singer of the Guangzhou Opera House Children's Chorus reports about the World Choir Games 2016
A music world is where our eyes were never closing, hearts were never broken, time forever frozen still. —Ed Seeran
Hey Sochi!
The school year was finally over! We, the Guangzhou Opera House Chorus, were going on an exciting trip, to Sochi for the World Choirs Games.
In my memory, it was a long and boring time for us to get to Sochi. But when we landed, when we put our footprints onto this land of music, the world was full of excitement again.On the next day, we were fully ready to compete. At first, we went to the most famous concert house: The Winter Theater! This was the place we had our first competetion.
It was almost five o’clock in the evening. Our teachers brought us to a place full of people. They were all waving their countrie`s flags. The flags looked like some colorful birds flying above the crowd. It was a big parade! It was wonderful to walk and talk with other international people.
The day passed quickly.The time has come for the big important events!!!!
The First Competition
It was the day for us to compete. The World Choirs Game was waiting for us, and we were the first group to the competition, so exciting! We arrived at the Winter Theater at about 9:30. I felt nervous because I always think that our performance is not successful or perfect enough.
Ten o’clock! It was time for us to get ready for the competition (performance). We walked quietly on the wooden floors. Our director, Yanhui Su, was softly telling us what we should care about (think about) while singing our songs. The speakers introduced us to the judges. We sang happily with smiles on our faces. To my surprise, those judges were smiling at us too. I was really happy because when your audience claps for you, you feel welcomed and proud. So I sang better and better. I sank into our chorus’s beautiful voice.
The last song was my favorite one. It was called “Swinging with the Saints.” It gave people a sense of sadness and gravity at first, but after the interlude, It became happier and moved more. It had a little taste of jazz music. That was awesome. During the last movement of this song, we raised our hands into the air and did a cool ending. Then the stage was full of clapping and “Bra-vos”. We were proud of ourselves because we got the other’s praise.
The Second Competition
This competition was the second and the last competition we had in Sochi. We prepared four songs for the competition. They were all traditional Chinese songs. For the better score, our director also added some chinese intruments to the beginning of the songs. The competition began about twenty minutes later. It was very cold inside the auditorium. We sang with all our minds and hearts, it was great.
After the competition, we felt relaxed because the performance was finally over. I had a very beautiful night with my friends and our teachers.
The Individual Coaching
Following the big important events, another wonderful day for me was the fifth day. We had a Individual Coaching.
In the morning, we went to a strange building called “Galaxy”. We sang for practice before the class. When it was eight in the morning, we went through a lot of doors and finally arrived in a glorious room. Inside the room, stood a tall bald man, he turned around with a cheerful smile. We saw him wearing a pair of long jeans, and a green shirt. I was looking forward to this class.
Soon, the master went in front of us and told us to sing our prepared song. So we sing “Nightingales”. After we sang it, the master told us to sing with the rhythm, to sing like a “Nightingales” flying through the clouds and to connect the first and the last note together, also to sing with our mood. I sang and sang, and felt like a colorful bird flying in a musical world.
A Thank You Letter For Everyone
The World Choirs Game were finally over. The results were awesome, we got a Silver Diploma in category O1 (Young Children’s Choirs), a Golden Diploma in category O28 (Folklore with accompaniment), and we were the winner of the O28 category (Children’s Choirs)!
Looking at our good results, I remembered our hard work from the beginning of the winter holidays. We spent every Saturday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm practicing, and we also spent every Friday evening for this World Choirs Games. We only sang eight songs in the competition, but it took a year to prepare! In spite of everything, that one year was worth it.
… thank you, Sochi, for giving us an opportunity to show ourselves on an international stage. I love music. I love Guangzhou Opera House Chorus. I love the World Choirs Games. And I love you, Sochi.
By Boyang Deng (Guangzhou Opera House Chorus)
